A/N: Done on my iPad; really crappy editing.
Three weeks after Steve awoke from the ice, Anna was due for her longstanding appointment to consult with Dr. Erik Selvig on the Tesseract project at a black site in the desert. Anna wanted to postpone her visit, not wanting Steve all on his own, but Steve insisted that she honor her previous commitments. Well, thats what he said anyway. He was a grown man, currently living in the same city he was born in; future or not, he didn't need a babysitter. Anna, however reluctant, went to consult.
Anna POV
"You shouldn't stand so close."
"Oh shut up Clint." I called up, bringing my nose closer to the blue cube. "It likes me."
"Wanna know what I'd like?" Clint called down to me from his spot up in the rafters.
I turned around and put a hand on my hip. "How'd you get up there anyway?" I asked him.
"Water," he answered his own question.
"Get it yourself!" I snapped back.
"Can't leave." Clint responded smartly.
I rolled my eyes. "Fine fine fine…I'll get your stupid water…you crazy, perching, paranoid bastard."
"I love you too," Clint called back casually.
"With what you put me through? You better, bird-boy!"
I had taken my sweet time getting Clint's water, when a blast shook the cement around me.
I dropped the plastic bottle on the ground and took off towards the tesseract bunker. I jumped swiftly over carts, and dodged other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents while I tried to get back to the Tesseract bunker, back to Clint, Erik and the rest of the science techs that I personally trained.
The sound of gunfire made me duck and roll, coming to a standing position behind a concrete pillar. I grabbed the gun and my hip, and checked the clip.
I heard footsteps coming closer to me, and I turned my cheek towards the wall, ready to fire at anyone who came around. The moment I saw a foot about to step down, I spun out from my hiding place and fired.
The hand that held my gun was grabbed in a painfully tight grip and smashed against the wall—not that it did much. The gun fell from my hand. I used my other to grab onto this guy's collar, and swung my leg out and gave a swift kick in the side of his ribcage. He released my other wrist, and I moved it up to his collar like my other hand, planning on yanking him down and jamming my knee in his face. He hand other ideas. He grabbed my throat and slammed me against a wall.
Before I could even move in retaliation, there was a blade at my throat. I've been in situations worse than this—this was a picnic compared to what happened in Brazil. But I didn't know who I was fighting. For the first time since I saw the foot, I looked at who I attacked. He had long dark hair, and was wearing an eclectic ensemble of metal and leather.
My eyes narrowed. "Loki." I said under my breath. It'd been a long time since I saw the Asgardian prince, but I'd recognise him anywhere.
Realization flicked in the hard blue eyes in front of me, and a (slightly deranged) smile spread over his face. The blade—spear, really, lowered until it was at my chest. "What are you gonna do to me?" I demanded to know, seeing blue swirl around the spear.
He looked sick. I remembered him having shorter, smoother black hair that curled under his ears, smooth, flawless pale skin and a mischievous glint to his blue/green eyes that was only partially masked by intelligence. Now, his hair was past his shoulders and was no longer smooth or glossy. His skin was pallid, and covered in a sheen of sweat. There were wide, reddish bruises under and around his eyes, and his chest was rising and falling heavily under the leather and metal.
Loki didn't really answer me, he just leaned closer to me. "Lady Anna…The flint of my life."
"Flint?" I repeated, my hands clawing deep into his clammy hand, not that it did much.
He smiled a little more, and gave a breathy chuckle. "Yes, flint...merely a stone. Just like any stone, it can be polished until it shines to be decorative...But matched with steel, it can start a blaze."
I paused in my struggling against him, trying to decipher his cryptic, poetic words. "Before...Before, the last time I saw you, you said I had fire within me." I recalled.
"I was mistaken." Loki said simply, pressing the tip of the spear closer to my chest.
"You are the flint, Anna." The spear began to glow. "And I, the steel."
"Together-you and I-we shall watch the world burn."
Omniscient POV
"What makes you so sure I'll say yes?" Steve asked Fury, sitting down to unwrap his hands. He was stalling, really. Anna told him to just lay low for two or three days until she got back. He knew who Director Nick Fury was the moment he walked into the gym; Anna showed him his picture. Steve was pretty sure if he was here, he wasn't interested in his right cross. Well, maybe he was, in a round-about way.
Fury held a file out to him. "Your friend?—Anna Brightman? She's been compromised."
Steve stopped, and looked up at the bald man with the eye patch. "Compromised." He repeated, taking the file. "Anna wouldn't flip."
"She did," Fury said simply. "Killed seven of the best agent's I've ever seen."
"Anna wouldn't flip," Steve said again, more firm. He zipped his bag shut and stood; he had a good two inches on the director. "I don't care if it's been almost 70 years; she wouldn't turn traitor."
"I never said she flipped on her own free will." Fury pointed out.
Anna was leading new people towards their new posts.
"If any of them express doubt; shoot them." Loki said to her, appearing over her shoulder. Not that she showed it, but him suddenly over her shoulder like that surprised her.
"You know what I usually do when people scare me like that?" She asked him, turning her chin so she could see Loki. She had a calm half-smirk on her lips and a playful look in her eyes—her crystalline blue eyes.
Loki's eyes narrowed, and grabbed her shoulder to roughly turn her around. Anna's own eyes narrowed as she looked up at Loki. He loomed over her, and when his hand shot up to grip her jaw, Anna's hands moved swiftly; she grabbed one of the daggers in his vest and held it to his own throat.
Loki smirked down at the blonde, and focused his magic through Anna's skin. His smirk grew as he saw her deep, golden brown eyes bleed through the blue. The crystalline blue remained around her irises, but the soulful brown had returned. "Much better." Loki said lowly, making Anna smirk slightly.
Swiftly, Loki dropped her chin and used two cool fingers to pick up the chain around her neck. He slowly pulled on it until the two bulky pendants hung out of Anna's shirt. Loki examined the metal ovals that hung from it; one on a separate smaller chain that hung lower. The hand still holding the staff let it go, and it floated to a table off to the side.
"James Buchanan Barnes." Loki read off, his fingers brushing over the raised letters. "Your lover?" He questioned.
Anna, with a quick flick of her wrist, flung the dagger into a crack on the cement above them. She'd told Loki about an abandoned Cold War bunker in Maine built for diplomates and rich people; the perfect place to be undisturbed.
"Used to be." She said calmly, taking the dog tags from Loki's fingers and tucking them back in her shirt. "Not really anything you need to know, is it?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"Perhaps not." Loki reasoned, holding his arms behind his back. "Tell me, Lady Anna; was he the man who made you see you were destined for such greatness?"
"Yeah, he was." Anna told him, straightening her shoulders and tipping her chin up.
"A man who can make such a determined, strong woman as yourself see differently than her own beliefs deserves to be rewarded." Loki told her, straightening his shoulders. "Where can I find him?"
"At the bottom of a ravine in Europe." Anna answered calmly. Loki's eyebrow curved up. "He's dead." Anna added on. "A reward would be pointless."
The two just stared at each other.
Anna looked up an Loki, her master, with an obedient, blank stare. She was ready to carry out whatever orders he gave her.
Loki's stare was much more interesting; he looked positively captivated by the woman in front of him.
"Hey." Clint said, nudging Anna's side with his elbow, gaining her attention. He nodded towards Loki, who was sitting off to the side on some steps with a pained look on his face. "What's wrong with him?"
"No idea." Anna replied, her brow furrowed with worry. She hopped a rail that surrounded a lower portion of the bunker on her way towards her master; it was her duty to make sure he was at his best mental and physical ability.
She sat next to him, and slowly reached towards him.
Loki gave a sharp gasp and jerked out of the trance he was in, his hand grabbing Anna's in a crushing, vice-like grip. Anna, not wanting to startle him, put a hand on Loki's chest. The scepter fell to the ground with a clang as the god grabbed the second hand and yanked the body connected to it to the left, slamming Anna into the wall.
Master or not, Anna retaliated. She kneed Loki in the stomach, and used all her weight to force him on his back. Straddling his lean torso, Anna gave him a hard slap in the face, which forced his mind to return to reality.
Breathing heavily, Loki looked up at Anna, who had one hand on his upper chest, the other forcing his hand down.
"If I let you up, think you can try and keep all your marbles in that big smart brain of your's?" Anna asked him, raising an eyebrow.
After regaining his surroundings, Loki looked back at Anna and chuckled lightly. "Where exactly did you learn to leave a god powerless, my dear?"
Anna rolled her eyes as she got off her master, shaking her head. "I picked up a few tricks over the years." She told him smoothly, brushing her jeans off as she looked down at Loki, who was propping himself up on his elbows, watching her.
Anna squatted down next to him, her elbows on her knees. "What's wrong?" She asked in a softer tone.
Loki sat up quickly, changing the distance between their faces from two feet to barely two inches.
"Do you know how often I wished you were in Asgard?" Loki asked her. The two expert liars seemed to challenge each other, seeing who could keep their face casual and impassive for the longest.
"No, I don't...Why would you want me there?" She asked him.
Loki slowly stood up, and picked the septor up from the floor. He held his hand out for Anna to take, which she didn't. She just put her hands behind her back and prepared to follow him. Chuckling lowly, Loki shook his head and returned to the steps.
"How...aware are you of what's happened to me?" Loki asked once Anna was sitting next to him.
"The basics." Anna said with a shrug, then a mildly playful look crossed her face. "You clearly had a very unhappy childhood." With one corner of his mouth turned up in a weak smirk, Loki looked down at the scepter in his hand.
"I have been captive since infancy, of Odin, of Thanos." Loki trailed off briefly before he looked back at the blonde next to him.
"My heart is ice, my dear," Loki explained with a small, sad smile. "It has been from birth. It has been shattered by the Allfather and my 'brother.' Crushed beyond repair with fake love that they assumed would be enough."
Anna hid the empathy she felt growing inside her, and raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue.
"They hid the monster I am my whole life," he continued.
"I've met plenty of monsters." Anna commented, completely relaxed. "You're not one."
"I am." Loki insisted, his voice low and commanding.
Anna leaned forward, towards her master. "Prove it."
It was silent between the two, as Loki's gaze scanned the area around them for prying eyes. When he looked back at Anna, she saw a distinct blue/gray begin to bleed over his pale, flawless skin. As the blue overtook the white, shapes and patterns began etching themselves into his skin. His blue/gray eyes, nearly the same shade as his skin was turning, turned bloody red, and his round pupil elongated.
Loki's jaw clenched as he awaited Anna's response. Slowly, the blonde's head turned slightly, causing some wave hair to fall out from behind her ear. "I still don't see a monster."
"The Jötnar are the monsters Æsir children cower from." Loki said, staring down at his hands.
Anna frowned at her master's clear distaste for himself; she took action. She raised her hand to his face, and placed her palm on Loki's cool, rough skin. His red eyes snapped from his blue/gray hands, marred with shapes and patterns he found no meaning in, to the woman next to him. Anna's thumb stroked his cheekbone, and Loki leaned into her hand briefly, his eyes closing again.
"My Midgardian angel," he breathed, sending cool air down Anna's wrist. "A beautiful creature you are, my pet...Far more fair than Freya, more kind than Iduna, more brave than Sif...I only grow more sure of my choice for my future queen."
"Future queen?" Anna repeated, chuckling a little.
"You will want for nothing," Loki began explaining, taking Anna's hand in his as his Æsir skin returned. "You will have an army," he continued, smiling. "They shall be yours, and yours alone to command."
One side of Anna's mouth tipped up. "Doesn't sound so bad."
"What of you, my dear?" He asked, turning more towards the woman next to him. "No measure of strength or fight can hide the pain within you."
Anna shrugged and leaned back on her hands. "My story isn't all that different from yours." She told him honestly. "But, you know, without the realms, gods 'n stuff." She chuckled a little at the end.
"Tell me." Loki pressed. Anna grew visibly uncomfortable and clenched her jaw. "Tell me, my little human, who had wronged you? Who has given you scars I can not heal?"
Anna remained scilent.
"Tell me." He said again, and Anna tipped her chin up.
Temper flaring, Loki tossed the scepter in the air, letting it hover in the air in easy reach. With his face twisted in frustration and anger, he seized Anna's face with both hands and yanked her closer as his magic wound through the inner workings of her mind.
As decades of memories flashed before her and Loki, Anna's eyes shut tight and her mouth fell open with a soft sob. The anger faded from the gods face as the faces of people, Anna's loved ones, her victims, her lost causes and innocents were brought forth.
When his hold on her mind was released, Loki let the blonde collide with his chest. She was breathing heavily and trying not to sob. Anna quickly pushed herself away from her master, her hands in her hair.
She looked at Loki in what he could only interpret as confusion and disbeleif; Anna's twisted mind couldn't understand how her master, the man who would guide the world into a better tomarrow, could make her feel so much pain. She turned on a heel and swiftly left.
Taking the scepter, Loki also stood, watching Anna as she walked away.
Clint had only seen Anna cry twice; the one time he was with her on the anniversary of Bucky's death, and when they were in Tibet.
"Hey, you alright?" Clint asked, grabbing her upper arm as she passed. Anna yanked her arm out of Clint's; her eyes were red, her bottom lip was quivering, and her hands were in shaking fists at her side.
"What'd he do?" Clint asked; it took a lot to get Anna so upset.
"He-He saw everything," she answered through clenched teeth as she leaned on a table, her head bowing forward. "And-And I saw everything...again."
Clint sighed and put a hand on Anna's shoulder, squeezing tight.
"I'm planning a heist, and you're playing dress-up." Anna heard Clint drawl from a few feet behind her. Loki had brought Anna to a large rack of expensive, fancy gowns and told her to choose one. They needed iriduim for Erik; Clint was actually going to get it, Anna and Loki were going to get the 'key'.
"Hey, do you know where my gun is right now? I'll trade with you in a heartbeat." She said. "Zip me up?"
Clint zipped the zipper of the red, lacy dress. Anna spun around, put her hands on her cocked hips and looked at the archer expectantly. "Well? What do you think?" She asked him.
"Kinda makes your butt look big." Clint pointed out casually.
Anna rolled her eyes. Instead of arguing that her butt did not in fact look big, Anna went behind the rack of clothes and looked for a different dress.
"Loki asked me about Bucky." Clint said a moment later.
At the mention of her deceased beau, Anna's Wehands stopped pushing the dresses around on the racks.
"Told him everything. Well, everything I know." Clint continued casually.
Anna's head started to throb; she pressed the heel of her hand to her temple as Clint kept talking.
"Told him how you met in the camp in New Jersey…Met up again after Italy."
Flashes of Bucky's face, looking up at her as she drew his blood flickered in Anna's mind. His drowsy talk of dancing.
"You two were pretty happy 'till Dieter came into the picture."
Anna remembered hazy wakeups in the hospital in France; Bucky snug against her and his jacket over her. She remembered him pleading for her to say something—anything. When vivid memories of her telling him she loved him, Anna winced in pain. She stumbled backwards when she remembered him grabbing her from Howard when they broke her out of the compound in the Netherlands; the prayers and how many times he thanked God for bringing her back to him. The way he'd play with the zipper along the back of her dress or on the side of her skirt when he thought no one was looking.
"Then, you know, he died."
Anna stumbled into the rack of clothes, and she heard Clint ask if she was alright. Unmoving, Anna slowly looked over and Clint, who had a hand on her shoulder. Although the archer was usually stoic (unless the expression was sarcasm), he was clearly worried about her, and it showed her in his wide eyes.
"What-What's wrong with your eyes?" Anna asked him, her voice quiet and her mind hazy.
Clint's eyes were usually an odd shade of gray that sometimes looked green or blue in the right light. Now, they were an odd, startling blue that was completely unnatural.
Frowning at the question, Clint's brows rose up a little. "What do you mean?"
"They're-They're not gray like they're supposed to be." Anna said weakly, grabbing her temples as she tried to stand up. She ended up falling to the ground.
"Anna!" Clint half-yelled, throwing the tablet he was holding to the side and shoving the garment bags aside so he could go through the rack.
"Hey! Hey, Anna?" Clint called, gently shaking her shoulders as she gazed lazily around.
"Move!" A voice bellowed, and Clint quickly moved away from his friend, and let Loki, his master, crouch by Anna's side.
When Anna's eyes locked onto Loki, she gasped and began struggling to stand up and get away from him. The two struggled for a what seemed like hours, and when Anna got the upper hand, by elbowing Loki in the temple, she managed to get her hands on a gun. As she struggled to push the clip in, she looked towards Clint; a man she trusted with her life just stood there, motionless and emotionless, as she tried to snap the clip in the gun.
Loki grabbed Anna's hair and threw her to the wallAnna had fought through much worse. A few years ago in China she was beaten, had two bullets in her, had gone through two explosions, and still managed to take out seven armed hostiles with a two foot section of copper pipe.
Among other things, as Loki wrapped his hand around her throat, she felt weak.
The scepter glowed as it was pressed to Anna's chest. Her eyes rolled back in her skull and she fell forwards; unconscious.
Loki caught her easily and slowly fell to his knees, holding Anna. Her back was against his thighs, and his arms were cradling her head and shoulders. He raised a hand to her face, and as he stroked from her cheekbone to her chin, a flicker of green light washed over Anna's face, healing the wound he cause at the back of her head.
Everyone was looking at Loki, their master, on his knees with a girl in his arms; shocked.
He snapped his head up when someone cleared their throat. His sharp glare made everyone take a step back.
"Leave us!" Loki roared. When he and the unconscious Anna were alone, he closed his eyes briefly, pressing his forehead to hers.
"I am sorry, my dear," Loki breathed before placing a lingering kiss on Anna's forehead.
Well, that's a whooper of a chapter, huh?
I'm sorry to say that I won't be updating this story until I uptade my other story on here, Reincarnated, and another story I have on a different site. I'm thinking my next update will be around Friday.
Also, side note, I have some pretty intence backstories for how Anna got to know Clint, Natasha and Phil Coulson, as well as some OCs that will play an important role and soem others that I'm putting in just for fun. (The flashbacks about Anna's falling out with Howard WILL be in here soon.)
Would you like to see these spread out like the Howard/Anna situation? Or would you like them to be stand-alone chapters inbetween the main-plot?
Well, that's all for now. If any of you cupcakes have any questions for me, feel free to message me! ;)
~Christianne
PS~ I'd say anout 80% of the really poetic stuff Loki says isn't from my own brain; I get them from pictures I think are madde by someone who uses the tumblr handle lokis-dirty-whispers .
