Alright, so apparently most of these shorts are from Loki's POV. I didn't realize that before.
This one begins with Loki's observations of the room with the Tesseract, since we know, from the end of Thor, that he was watching them.
"You have no heart, do you Hawkeye?"
The man didn't flinch, didn't respond in any way. There was no reason to, he could not see Loki's shade, could not hear him; so he continued to stare at the room below.
Loki shook his head. He was bored with the passionless sentry. The Hawk had intrigued him at first; his quiet, intense manner, his ever watchful eye, and how he had gone unnoticed by Loki until Selvig and his assistant had brought him up.
"It's unnerving having him watch us all the time."
Loki had spun away from the Tesseract, his attention quickly switching to the two scientists. Did they know he was there?
"With a name like Hawkeye did you expect him to do something else?" Selvig asked, not taking his eyes away from the screen.
Who?
"Oh, he does." The blonde female said, setting down some papers. Her voice became softer. "I heard some of the agents talking; he's the best marksman at SHIELD."
Dr. Selvig blinked, his fingers pausing on the keyboard.
"He never misses."
Selvig's eyes shifted upward and Loki followed his gaze to the rafters. He was surprised to see a man sitting on a suspended metal plank, his legs folded in front of him, his arms and chin resting on a bar and his eyes seemingly locked on the scientists. Loki frowned. He had not noticed the man up there; nor did he remember ever seeing him before.
"Makes you wonder why he was assigned to watch us." The woman asked.
Indeed.
Loki's consciousness dissolved and reformed, sitting next to the man in the rafters. What had they called him? Hawkeye. Not his real name, surely; most likely a warrior's name, earned in battle.
But his interest in the Hawk had quickly dissipated as he realized he could learn nothing from the agent. He would silently watch the room each day, adorned in the same black attire, a radio would quietly crackle at his side but none of the chatter was ever directed to him. And so he sat. If he left his post he did so when Loki was not there.
There was nothing else to him. Seemingly empty and passionless. Presenting no desire for anything different. True, there was no one there for which to express such desires but Loki chose to no longer waste time observing the Hawk.
Though he is rightly named, Loki thought, as he pulled his shade back to himself. The man's eyes seemed angry but Loki had seen that intensity in Heimdall's gaze and he couldn't help but wonder exactly how much the midgardian Hawk saw.
Mere hours remained. The Tesseract was ready. Selvig and his team were gone and Loki was ready to leave when he heard voices coming from the stairs to the Hawk's perch.
"She can't learn anything as a date."
Loki watched the Hawk and another agent in a suit descend the last steps and begin making their way across the room.
"If she heard you doubting her she'd probably break something of yours."
"I don't doubt her, Coulson. I'm just saying it like it is." Agent Barton paused. "She's going to let them capture her, you know that, right?"
Coulson sighed. "She might not."
Agent Barton smiled.
Coulson sighed again. "Do you two enjoy increasing my paperwork?"
"'You two'?" There was a glint in the Hawk's eyes. "How did I get pulled into this? I don't purposely get captured to get intel. I take out my target and get out. Simple and clean." He seemed to rethink his last words as Phil spoke up.
"Brussels."
"You know we were given bad intel."
"Argentina."
"There wasn't suppose to be an actual body in the grave."
"Turkey."
"You're not even going to give a specific city?"
"Izmir."
"How about Bursa?" Barton offered. "This isn't really fair, you know, you're only naming the missions we go on together."
Coulson's eyebrows rose expectantly.
This time Agent Barton laughed. "Do you want me to get you a stress ball, Coulson? It'll be a good workout for your hands, make them nice and strong for all the extra paperwork coming your way."
Loki stopped as the door to the room closed, choosing not to follow them.
The Hawk had smiled.
Loki frowned. He had not seen him smile before, let alone laugh. It changed his entire appearance. It seemed so easy and carefree, completely opposite of how he normally looked. He briefly wondered who they spoke of and who this other agent was that could cause such a change in the Hawk but he had other things to attend. It was time.
He felt the energy from the scepter spread through his being. Too much. He was calling forth too much. This was different than how he would use his magic. But this was not the time to study it out. He would have to hope the energy would not burn through him before he was done with this fight.
Their metal sparking against his armor and in a swift movement two more fell. The air in the room hummed with potential energy, screams of pain and last gasps for life.
Pain, on his cheek, rocked his head backward. It might have done more damage if not for the excess energy filling him. His anger flared. Who dared?
He fired the scepter again. One of the men is no more, his body disintegrating in the blast. He barely noted that the Hawk has lept out of the way, as he moves to take down another agent.
He turns, ready to attack again, but finds the room still. It is almost disappointing, how easily he has bested the Midgardians. But, it was to be expected.
He makes his way to the Tesseract; weaving through the bodies. Movement draws his attention to his left. Of course. Agent Barton. The only one who had the sense to aim for his head and the skill to actually hit it. He might just do. He had considered, Fury, the one-eyed churl, but...The scepter, used this way, would only shift loyalty, albeit shift it so completely the individual would do things they wouldn't normally do, like turn against their world, but it would not change their nature. Once he had Selvig under his control he would keep him away from the killing, let him immerse himself in the Tesseract, study, discover, because that was his nature. No, Fury commanded. Oh, he would follow and do what Loki wished but he needed a soldier accustomed to the field. Loki needed someone who could take commands but think for himself. He almost laughed at the irony. The scuffle certainly had sifted through the unworthy. Fury wouldn't have even been an option if the Hawk hadn't saved him. Barton's survival instincts could benefit Loki if the agent's loyalty belonged to him.
If he could he would take them all but maintaining control of too many would take it's toll on him and he was already beginning to feel the wear from releasing too much of the power.
Loki tightened his grip on the scepter and moved quickly toward Barton as the man began to rise. The Hawk spun around trying to knock aside the scepter while bringing up his weapon, but Loki pulled it out of his reach and grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm to the side. Barton refused to release the weapon and seemed ready to counter the hold but as Loki brought the scepter up, closer to his chest, his struggle lessened; the threat understood.
Their eyes locked, and for the first time, he was captured in the Hawk's focused gaze. There was pain but it was quickly pushed aside. Apprehension. No doubt wondering why the stranger paused, when he had been so quick to kill the others. But pain and apprehension did nothing to lessen what became clear as the eyes bore into him.
Finally, he saw it. The fire that intensified the gaze, quickened his movements, allowed him to be the first to rise as others lay dead and dying. Courage to stare down a god who could end his life in a breath.
A smile played at Loki's lips as he readied the scepter. "You have heart."
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