Set up at the beginning of AOU.
Disclaimer: No, I unfortunately do not own anything MARVEL…but rest assured, I would never pass up such an opportunity.
It all started out normally, or as normal as being an Avenger got. The team had undergone many changes since the battle of New York. While they were not the perfect group, they had become much more cohesive while living under one roof. And with the reappearance of Loki, of course. No one had been more surprised than the Avengers when Loki suddenly appeared in their midst. Everyone's first thought was to leap upon the one who had caused so much trouble, however Thor had appeared shortly after and explained that Loki had been banished from Asgard. He had been sent to Midgard to atone for his sins and help rebuild the city he had damaged. For the first few months, life in the Avengers tower was tense. Loki was moody and refused to talk to anyone. And no one but Thor was trying to become his friend, but one day, as everyone gathered for breakfast, there was suddenly no tension. Steve was flipping blueberry pancakes, Tony was humming something under his breath as he waiting for his coffee to finish brewing. Clint and Natasha sat at the island in the middle of the spacious kitchen, sipping orange juice and snickering at some joke known only to them, Bruce was reading a newspaper, and Thor was staring at the toaster, trying to figure out kind of magic it ran on. And then, Loki entered the kitchen, wearing a loose tunic and tight pants, his hair still rumpled and eyes still red from sleeping. And nothing happened. No one tensed up, left the room, or even stared at him, like they were waiting for him to pounce. Tony passed him, placing a cup of steaming hot coffee in his hands as he made his way over to Clint and Tash.
That was the beginning of the healing process for the Avengers. Now, almost a year later, Loki was a full member of the Avengers. Everyone admitted that having Loki on their side was a huge advantage to any situation, especially the one they were currently in. The Avengers had been called in when SHIELD had found another Hydra base and now they were in a snow-filled forest, trying to break into the Hydra fortress that was apparently shielded, according to Tony as he bounced off of the invisible barrier, swearing as he did so. "Shit!" Tony exclaimed loudly.
Which was followed, inevitably by Steve, who chastised him, "Language."
The team worked as one, killing enemy soldiers quickly and efficiently as they made their way towards the base. It was just as Tony destroyed the barrier surrounding the building when they all heard it.
"Um…guys, it may just be me but I'm hearing GDRF by Flo Rida in my head, and I most definitely was not thinking about that song just a moment ago," Tony said.
"Oh, is that what that awful noise is?" exclaimed Thor.
"I'm trying to focus on killing people, who's doing it? Is it you, Loki, because it's not funny," Natasha griped.
Loki's smooth chuckle broke out over the earpieces. "Tis not me, Lady Natasha, but whoever it is, I do admire their style."
"Now Reindeer Games, what are you even talking abo-" Tony was cut off when he spotted a miniature tornado heading towards the rest of the Avengers. "Uh guys, you might want to watch out. Looks like something is coming your way."
Natasha was the first to notice the storm, immediately going on the defense. "Clint, I see it, what can you make of it?"
Clint stared hard, making out a figure in the eye of the tornado. Whipping out an arrow, he fired it, disappointed when the arrow was caught by the furious wind and missed the hazy figure by inches. All of a sudden, the storm stopped, and the air cleared.
"Alright, we have an enhanced in the field, I repeat, we have an enhanced in the field. It seems as though she created the storm," Natasha warned the others. Clint and Natasha slowly circled the young woman who stood as still as a stone. She was tall and thin; skin as pale as the snow she stood on, but her hair was her most notable feature, for it was a dark shade of red, which faded to a pale pink near the ends. She grinned at the two assassins before springing into action, her limbs moving with strange, fluid grace. For a second nothing happened, then the ground beneath their feet trembled and started to collapse. Clint jumped out of his spot, quick as lightning, and but was knocked several feet back by a sudden gust of wind. He tried shooting an arrow at the woman but a wall of ice and snow suddenly appeared in front of her, shielding her for but a moment before it collapsed. Spreading her arms out wide, the unknown woman sent a wall of flame outwards that almost consumed the Black Widow before Clint pulled her roughly against him while turning, feeling his back sear with pain as flame passed much to close for comfort.
"We need immediate assistance," he barked, while trying to avoid the woman's next attack.
"I just got the scepter, and it looks like everyone is converging upon your position," Tony replied, his voice triumphant.
"There is another enhanced in the field. It looks like he has some kind of super speed," Captain America warned.
Loki's voice came through over everyone else's, "Cease your useless chatter. It is clear that these enhanced creatures are merely seeking to cause a diversion and nothing else. I shall deal with the woman myself. Everyone else, please regroup at my location, and Stark, make sure you have everything you need before you completely destroy that base."
Everyone was quick to obey Loki's wise commands and in seconds, the enhanced woman was completely surrounded. The base exploded in a mushroom of fire and smoke behind them and Iron Man came speeding over, hovering over the small group.
Loki stepped out of the forest, into the woman's line of sight and said, tauntingly, "If you were really trying to protect and defend that Hydra base, you certainly did a poor job."
The woman spoke in a heavy accent, her sarcasm matching Loki's word for word. "And if you thought I was trying, you are just as mistaken." The song that had been playing in the back of everyone's heads suddenly came to the forefront, roaring through the Avenger's minds as it came to its final chorus. Loki just cocked his head as his teammates clutched their heads, trying to relieve the pain.
"That is a neat trick, but it will take more than projecting songs into our heads to defeat us."
The woman smirked at him, "I don't want to defeat you, I want to make you kneel."
Loki's eyes narrowed, and he decided there was no need for anymore talking. He raised his hands, sending a flash of green light her way, but she dodged it, and retaliated by gracefully throwing her arms outward and Loki dissolved the ice shards hurled at his head. Back and forth the battle raged, the woman holding her own against the Avengers. Her movements were coordinated with song still raging within their heads as she made the Hulk sink neck-deep into the earth, froze Hawk Eye while he was notching another arrow, and sent Iron Man and Thor spinning away through the air when she made yet another tornado out of the wind.
When it was just the two of them once more, she grinned at Loki, "It is time for me to leave, but we shall see each other once again, never fear."
Loki shot yet another bolt of energy at her, but she deflected, her concentration slightly broken, enough for Black Widow to fire both of her guns at once, saying, "There won't be another time, bitch."
The woman spun around but it was too late. The bullets caught her in the shoulder and side, jerking her back each time they hit. Desperate to escape, the woman summoned the wind behind her as she ran, clutching her wounds, with Loki and Natasha hard on her heels.
"Thor, Tony, cut her off, Widow and I are right behind her," Loki said, summoning more energy to run even faster, trying to keep up with her. He sent out a magic projection of himself to appear right in front of her, which made her veer sharply to the right, straight into the path of another one of Natasha's bullets, which lodged itself in her right thigh. Staggering, the woman tried to continue her dash but to no avail. When Thor and Tony landed right in front of her, with Loki and Widow right behind, she hesitantly clasped her hands in back of her head.
Loki stalked towards her and snarled, "Kneel."
Instead of acknowledging defeat, the woman looked bored, as she drew one hand from behind her head and punched Loki hard in the nose. Surprised, he rocked back on his feet, and Tony shot two beams of energy at her. She flew through the air, and was stopped by a tall pine.
Gathering around the mysterious woman's unconscious form, Tony flipped his visor up, a look of disgust on his face. "Look how young she is, barely twenty from the look of it, yet she can do all of this. Almost brought our team down. What are we supposed to do with her?"
Natasha stepped forward, but Tony shook a finger at her, "No, we're not going to kill her Ms. Assassin. Any other bright ideas?"
"We could take her with us, try to get any information she might have about the rest of Hydra's secret bases and laboratories," Thor offered.
Tony raised an eyebrow and looked at Loki.
Rolling his eyes, he adopted a look of boredom. "Do what you must with her, I have no qualms either way."
"Nice to know you have such a strong opinion on this, Reindeer Games, would you mind restraining her and unfreezing Clint while you're at it?" Tony requested.
"Where would you mortals be without me?"
Tony smirked, "Probably leading much simpler lives, now off you go."
