Author's Note: Chapter 9: Enlisting, or "The Last Chapter Before Everything Starts to Go Horribly Wrong Fast" :)
Loki spent most of the day wandering about New York City on her own, while Bucky prepared to leave for the war front. He had seemed to desire space, and Loki had been happy to oblige. She had her own plans for the day. Now that she knew there was a way to get to the war, things would be fairly easy. Even the males-only restriction wouldn't be an issue. After all, what was the harm in using a little magic if nobody knew she'd done so? Loki thought.
And she'd always been especially good at transformation magic.
Now she just had to figure out how one "enlisted." That turned out to be easier than planned. There were posters everywhere, and it wasn't hard to find someone to point her in the right direction once she'd ducked into an empty back street and changed her appearance. It always felt strange to be in a man's body, she mused. It threw her center of balance off, and mimicking the opposite gender's movements was a special kind of challenge. It was nothing she couldn't handle, of course, but it was disorienting nonetheless. She would use more conventional methods of disguise for the long run, but right now she needed to completely fool whoever it was that decided if she could join the fight or not.
Loki stepped inside the recruiting office, blinking in the dim light. Her eyes quickly adjusted, and she did a scan of the room. There were dozens of men and boys, in various states of undress, and many of them were talking loudly. It was quite the scene of confusion, and Loki hid a smirk as she watched. Then, a familiar voice caught her attention, and she turned. A blond-haired boy was arguing with an older man in a lab coat.
"But there must be something you can do," the boy pleaded.
"I'm doing it," the man (doctor, perhaps? Bucky did say there was a medical examination involved). "I'm saving your life."
The boy's shoulders slumped, and he turned to leave. Loki's eyes went wide, and she realized why his voice had sounded so familiar. It was Steve, Bucky's friend!
What was he doing here?
The strangest part was, despite his defeated stance, the emotions rolling off him in waves weren't disappointment or frustration. It was a flood of anger and hatred so potent Loki had to stifle a gasp as it washed over her. That was...not a normal Midgardian reaction to this sort of situation.
Right?
That wasn't her problem, Loki told herself firmly. If the foolish little Midgardian was trying to get himself killed, he could go right ahead and do it. She had a mission to complete. Giving herself a mental shake, she stepped forward towards the doctor behind the desk with a winning smile.
"Good morning," she said. "I would like to enlist, please."
Twenty minutes later, Loki was offered her pick of assignments. She chose the 107th Infantry. Not because of the dark-haired human back at the apartment. Certainly not. It was just the position that appeared most likely to give her good sources of information. That was all.
She headed back out into the hubbub of human traffic with that oh-so-important piece of paper tucked safely away in the space between worlds, where it would be safe until she needed it to get on the transportation. Loki smiled lazily and stretched in the early morning sun. It felt good to be back in her own body, and knowing that she was one step closer to doing what she needed to do - and therefore one step closer to going home - was a very good thing indeed. Barnes was probably still asleep, she thought, guesstimating by the position of Midgard's sun, which meant she had a little while to do whatever she felt like.
Loki let the crowd take her to Norns-knew-where, simply going with the flow. It was strange, she thought, how oblivious Midgardians really were. How...naive wasn't the word, but it was something like it. They were so convinced they were alone in the universe that they didn't even notice the extra-planetary presence among them, which to a trained eye would have been very obvious. At first glance, Loki looked human enough in her natural form, but only almost human. There was a sharpness to her features that was just a little off, a flow of movement that was ever so slightly not quite natural. And anyone who looked her in the eyes, really, truly looked, should have seen the dangerous glitter of a predator who knew there was no one in this realm who could come anywhere close to matching her blow for blow.
And yet, despite the despair that should have arisen from their perceived loneliness, the humans carried on. They fought and they loved and they explored and discovered and built towers that stretched away into the sky because they could. Humanity should not have flourished on this cruel, uncaring world they called home, Loki thought, and yet they had. These weak, fragile, oh-so-stubborn humans had done it. She had to admire that, and - although she would never admit it, even to herself - a feeling that was suspiciously similar to kinship whispered in the back of her mind. They're like you, it whispered. You could belong here if you would only admit it to yourself. You could be happy here - truly happy. This place is already more your home than Asgard ever could be.
Loki shook her head, banishing such foolish thoughts. Now was not the time for sentiment. She had a job to do, and that started with gathering as much information as possible at the "expo" tonight that she was attending with the soldier. What did Midgardian women wear to such things? Loki wondered. It wouldn't do to stand out too much.