So while the MCU doesn't have much in the way of referencing mutants, I wanted to bring them to the surface and make them more of a focal point for my stories. As evidenced by me throwing them in everywhere.

Hope you like it!


Chapter 6: Following the Lightning

Alvar and Christa had to admit, Ciara was on a whole other level compared to them.

Super speed against a much more offensive mutant ability; Alvar was certain she wouldn't get the jump on him again. Not with Christa's ability on his side. She could run fast, but how would that help against fire?

He'd quickly learned that just because he had a power that could damage, didn't mean he was guaranteed a win. Like the speedster had said, he'd hidden his powers from the world instead of training them. He just couldn't catch her as she darted around, stopped only by Christa's barrier around them.

"You should have taken my offer," Ciara sighed, stopping in front of them. Alvar cursed at her in German and threw his hand back up, and Ciara darted away as the flames poured out of the window Christa had opened for him. He then slumped, and the young woman beside him caught him, supporting him. "All you're doing is tiring yourself out. It's boring. Even they're having a better time of it than we are," before he could stop himself, Alvar looked over to where Captain America was fighting Loki. The man was struggling to land a blow, but didn't give up.

"We will stop you," Alvar turned back to Ciara, who snorted.

"How? You're the ones boxed in using your powers to defend yourselves," she mocked.

"Think again," Christa hissed, and Ciara blinked, seeing the shimmer shift.

"Oh," she breathed, reaching out to touch the almost completely transparent wall in front of her. "It's not a shield, but a barrier you can manipulate," she realised, looking around to confirm she was trapped. "Okay, now I'm impressed. That's a cool power," Ciara laughed, not worried at all.

"Mutants like you are the reason we kept ourselves hidden," Alvar growled at her. Ciara stopped laughing, tilting her head.

"We shouldn't have to hide," she argued back, shrugging.

"How are normal people supposed to accept us, if Mutants like you are using your powers to scare them and cause damage like this?" Alvar argued, not understanding her. He flinched, when her fists slammed against the barrier.

"Who gives a shit if they 'accept us'?" she demanded. "Humans look for nothing more than to crush and restrain or manipulate anything remotely different. We don't need to cause trouble for them to fear us. Just take a look at yourselves. You did nothing but try to defend the crowd, and what will you be repaid with? Fear," Ciara scoffed, disgusted with their attitude. "So don't try and lord yourselves over me when you cower against them," Alvar stared at her.

"You're mad," Christa declared, a tremble in her voice.

"Obviously," Ciara retorted, and stepped back from the edge of the barrier. Inside her prison, she began to spin. She quickly increased in speed, and the winds inside the barrier picked up, making it rattle. Christa let out a whimper, stumbling as she held up both hands in an attempt to keep it in place. The rattling grew louder, and the invisible walls shattered. Christa gasped loudly, and collapsed, with Alvar barely catching her. Before he could react, Ciara's fist collided with his face, and the two crumpled to the ground unconscious.

Ciara walked away as the winds quickly died down, not looking back at them. "Pathetic," she muttered, flicking her hair out of her face. When the jet above started to blast music, she looked up, frowning, and saw a familiar gold and red figure flying towards them. She let out a laugh. "So the tin man has come to play too," she murmured.

She was content to watch what was going to happen, when pain suddenly exploded in the back of her head, and she fell forwards, seeing a young woman with pale brown hair standing over her, before everything went dark.


When Ciara regained consciousness, she felt a weightless sensation in her stomach, and through the haze, she realised they were in the air.

"Who hit so hard?" she complained, opening her eyes and looking up at the two men standing in the middle of the carrier. "Unnecessary, I'm delicate," Ciara complained, her tone light as if she was commenting on the weather.

"Somehow I doubt that," Tony Stark muttered, still wearing his Iron Man suit, without the helmet. "Considering the number you did on those two civilians," he commented, his gaze on her wary. Ciara blinked, looking offended.

"I didn't touch the girl," she replied, looking down at the shackles around her wrists. They were heavy, giving her very little motion, and the ones around her ankles kept her bolted to the ground. Not that she had any reason to try bolting just yet. "But wow, what an honour. Tracked down and captured by Iron Man, Captain America, and the Black Widow. I guess I've made it in life," Ciara drawled, before noticing another young woman in the corner, keeping to herself and staring at her hands. "You on the other hand, I don't know," she admitted, completely ignoring Loki as he did the same to everyone around him.

"How embarrassing for you then," Ciara arched an eyebrow as Tony snorted.

"Stark," Steve hissed in warning.

"She was the one who took down your cocky ass, kid," Tony ignored him, and Ciara looked back at the young woman. She was dressed in a suit similar to Natasha's, with her brown hair pulled out of her face. She had looked up at Tony's words, her cheeks going red in a blush. She met Ciara's gaze, and watched as the smirk faded and was replaced by curiosity. Flustered, she looked back down at her hands again, looking over a file.

"Boring," Ciara snorted, leaning back. The back of her head still hurt in a dull throbbing pain, and she glanced to the woman again curiously. She hadn't held back in striking her, which led Ciara to believe that she was not only stronger than she looked, but smarter. Anything less might have only stunned the speedster. But that wasn't what interested Ciara the most. The woman looked up, and met Ciara's gaze with a nervous one of her own. Her attitude was entirely different to everyone else there. And Ciara wanted to know just how she'd managed to sneak up on her.

"I don't like it," Steve's quiet words to Tony earned her attention.

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easy?" Steve huffed at Tony's casual attitude.

"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop," he warned, shooting Loki a suspicious glare. Loki didn't even blink. If he could hear them, he was putting on a good show of playing dumb. "And if Tournes hadn't taken down Ellis when she had, it could have gotten worse," he warned.

"Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow," Tony didn't seem to take him seriously. "What's your thing? Pilates?" he asked, finally looking at Steve.

"What?" the Captain asked, baffled.

"You might have missed a couple of things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle," Tony spoke lightly, but it was obvious he was mocking the concerned man. Steve didn't reply immediately, his brow furrowed.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in," he finally spoke, deciding to ignore the barbs.

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you," Tony shrugged, and Ciara arched an eyebrow at his attitude. There was something more to what Tony was saying, and it made her very interested. The jet suddenly jolted, and the sky lit up.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha wondered from the pilot's seat, looking up as lightning flashed. It illuminated the entire sky, and Loki finally moved, his eyes going to the window as his blank expression was worn away by concern.

"What's the matter?" Steve asked him, noticing his sudden nervous attitude. "Scared of a little lightning?" he asked, irritable.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki answered him as the jet shook from the changes in wind. Ciara frowned, before she realised what he meant.

"Oh no..." she started to laugh, and everyone but Loki glanced to her. "This is gonna be good," Ciara laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked as he shifted his weight to keep on his feet. Ciara just grinned, and a moment later, something collided with the top of the jet, making it jerk madly.

"What was that?" Penelope was on her feet as well as Tony put his helmet back on.

"Better stay back, twinkle toes," he warned her, pushing her backwards towards the front of the jet. He hit a button, and an alarm blared as the back of the jet began to open.

"What are you doing?" Steve shouted as he caught Penelope and eased her down into a seat. Tony didn't answer as he approached the open door, only for a figure to land in front of him.

Thor looked up, fury in his gaze as he locked onto Loki, who stared at him with wide eyes. Aware there were others present, the God of Thunder turned to Iron Man when he lifted his hand to attack. Thor reacted faster, and slammed Mjolnir into his chest. The man in the robotic suit was tossed across and into Steve, bringing him down with him. Ciara watched with amusement as Thor tore Loki out of his bindings and yanked him to his feet by his neck. Without waiting for Loki to speak, or for the other two to get back up, he spun Mjolnir and flew off.

"Now there's that guy," Iron Man muttered.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha called, unable to move away from the pilot's seat. Ciara couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you know who that was?" Captain America demanded, seeing Ciara's reaction.

"Doesn't matter," Iron Man snapped before Ciara could speak. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost," he pointed out, storming over to the still open doors.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Captain America shouted after him.

"I have a plan," he frowned at the reply. "Attack," with that, Iron Man flew off after Thor. Captain America let out an exasperated smile.

"You might want to stay out of this one Cap," he glanced to Ciara as she smirked.

"And why do you say that?" he asked.

"Because the Norse legends are true. They're Gods, and powerful ones at that," the speedster answered. Penelope stared at her with wide eyes. Captain America just lifted a parachute and strapped it against his back, before giving a polite smile.

"There's only one god, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that," he told her, lifting his shield. Ciara couldn't help but laugh at his honesty.

"I guess that's why you're the legendary hero," she commented, and he didn't reply, leaping out of the jet. Natasha closed the doors, and circled, waiting for contact. "Guess it's just the girls now," Ciara drawled, moving to make the chains clink together.

"Enough, Ciara," Natasha warned. Ciara just gave a quiet chuckle, and looked to Penelope again, who jolted as she was caught staring. Ciara winked at her, and Penelope quickly looked away, flustered once again, and blushed as she heard the speedster laughing.


When the four returned to the carrier, Thor was stunned to see Ciara in chains, looking bored.

"Ciara Ellis?" he spoke after shoving Loki roughly down into a seat again. His brother rolled his eyes but made no sound.

"Hey big guy," she gave a lazy smile back. "Welcome back," she greeted, and his frown grew.

"Why is she in chains?" he demanded, turning to Tony and Steve. "She aided me greatly when I came to Earth last year," he told them.

"She also helped your brother injure and kill multiple civilians in Germany," Natasha spoke, shooting Ciara a glare. Thor's eyes widened.

"I didn't kill anyone," Ciara's tone was light at the accusation, and her attention seemed focused out the window as they flew through the dark. She was aware of Thor's blue eyes on her, but purposely didn't look at him as he tried to understand why she would help Loki in his attempt to rule the world.

He recalled the night he'd attempted to reclaim Mjolnir and failed. Ciara had offered to help him break into SHIELD's base despite the risk to herself. And when he'd asked her why she would help him, her answer had been simple. 'Because it'll be fun', she'd said. Thor had been unsure of if he could trust her then, but she had helped him, and then helped against the Destroyer, even saving Sif despite arguing with her previously. The warrior hadn't cared for her attitude in the slightest, and now he could understand why. She'd helped him because it was fun, and now, it seemed, she was helping his brother on the opposing side for the same reason.

Thor kept quiet, concerned for the mortal girl's safety if she continued the path she was on. As he looked to Steve and Tony, he missed Loki's faint smirk.


The sun was just beginning to rise when the jet arrived at the Helicarrier. Cloaked in the sky, the massive airship was hidden from almost everyone. As they landed, the passengers currently not in chains moved off and allowed the agents waiting to attach new chains and lead the two out.

Ciara hummed to herself, guided along by two agents behind the much larger group leading Loki to the cell. She looked around, and they passed a laboratory, where a nervous looking man watched in surprise. Loki smirked at him, while Ciara tilted her head, fascinated by him. She had been unsure if they were going to bring Bruce in, considering how uncontrollable the Hulk was, but here he was.

"Move it," when she slowed down, one of the men guiding her gave the chains a sharp tug, and Ciara stumbled forwards. Her fists clenched and she struggled to bite her tongue at his behaviour, but continued along wordlessly.

When they turned down another corridor, the chains suddenly fell slack. "Hey!" the agent barked, thinking she'd fallen, but when he gave another tug, the chains rattled loudly and the two whirled around to find Ciara was gone.

"How did she-"

"Find her," the other agent snapped before he could ask, and Loki glanced around as they ran off. As they turned down one way, Ciara moved down the other way, and stopped as she saw him. She smirked, waving to him before running off. Loki rolled his eyes and continued walking as the agents escorting him recovered from the surprise. He recalled her ability to escaping the binding Barton had tied her in. She'd claimed very little could restrain her, and it seemed she was telling the truth. But he would hold true to his word too. If she interfered in any way, he'd kill her.


Let me know what you think!