So it goes with saying that only things I own with any connection to MARVEL I bought on Ebay or Etsy. MARVEL COMICS & MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE are their own creatures and I have nothing to do with either of them aside from the fact I enjoy reading or watching them, and am grateful for the ability to play in their world. I claim nothing, and I receive nothing for this, expect the pleasure of putting something out into the world.

You can also find this story on ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN under the same title and pen name along with a place to post suggestions.

Don't forget to check out the Photobucket album listed on my profile page too. (My apologies. I didn't realize FF removed the links. I have corrected the problem in what way I can, so for those who like the visual additions, feel free to check them out.)

DAY THREE

CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE

THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012

1123 HOURS

RITCHEY WOODS NATURE PRESERVE

CARMEL INDIANA

THE ASSET

Mission Type: Extraction. Civilian casualties acceptable.

Target information #1: S.H.I.E.L.D level 1. Target level 1. Gender: Female. Age: 25, Race: Caucasian, Asian. Height: 161 cm. Hair: Brown. Eyes: Green. Mission requirements: Deliver alive and unharmed, remove all interference.

Target information #2: S.H.I.E.L.D level 7. Target level 6. Gender: Male,. Age: 44 . Race: Caucasian. Height: 178 cm. Hair: Light brown. Eyes: Blue. Mission requirements. Eliminate discreetly upon interference.

Target information #3: S.H.I.E.L.D level 7. Target level 6. Gender: Male. Age: 29. Race: Caucasian. Height: 185 cm. Hair: Dark brown. Eyes: Blue. Mission requirements. Evaluate in the Field and eliminate upon interference.

Target information #4: S.H.I.E.L.D level none. Target level 9. Gender: Male. Age: unknown. Race: Asgardian. Height: 188 cm. Hair: Black. Eyes: Blue. Mission requirements. Do not engage, eliminate all who make physical contact.

Mission authorized: 0614 hours.

Resuscitation process: Initiated: 0637 hours. Completed: 0702 hours.

Prosthetic evaluation: Maintenance required. Maintenance Completed: 0758 hours

Mission briefing: 0807 hours

Mission equipping: 0833 hours

Mission departure: 0852 hours

Flight take off: 0902 hours

Flight touch down: 1027 hours

On location mission reevaluation: 1028 hours

GPS: 39.969502,-86.13027, Location type: Bunker, cold war era. Situation: Inaccessible due to local emergency relief. Cause: Subterranean collapse. Targets #1-4 not present, no longer an important site.

GPS: 39.9703246,-861261664, Location type: Parking lot, restaurant. Situation: Multiple homicide of non affiliated military personnel. Inaccessible due to military presence. Multiple witnesses, assailant reported is highly trained middle aged blond male (Target #2), left with a young biracial brunette (Target #1). Transport taken, US Army reserve issue Humvee. Targets #1-4 not present, no longer an important site.

GPS: 39.9384796,-86.0330252, Location type: Nature park. Situation: Unattended military vehicle parked beyond visible tree line, caller mentioned blood in the cab. Target #1-4 not reported present. Site of interest: Proximity to an airfield.

Emergency Call intercepted 1033 hours: Shots fired: Ritchey woods nature preserve.

Target #1 sighted. Target appears injured and traumatized but healthy. Awaiting orders.

Target #2 Sighted, target appears dead or unconscious.

Target #3 Sighted, Target #3 interacting with Target #1.

Target #4 Not sighted.

Target #3 Has initiated assault on Target #1. Mission requirements: Keep her alive and unharmed, remove all interference. Clear shot unavailable, Adjusting for disarming shot. Bullets used: 1.

Target #4 Sighted.

THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012

1124 HOURS

RITCHEY WOODS NATURE PRESERVE

CARMEL INDIANA

LOKI

It was the shot that made me stop hiding within illusions, but even though I had time to watch I still had to bend my own knee to keep her head from connecting with the dirt. Her stability, if not her consciousness altogether unable to sustain itself when she made the mistake of trying to stand.

She was beautiful, and she was finally 'her' again. My methods were cruel, I will concede that but her magick has always been so closely tied to her emotion, that I could not think of any other way to awaken it then but to push her this far. And it worked, I can feel that it worked. The sensation like sand in the wind prickles my uncovered skin, even though my own magick protects me. A fading imitation of what she did to him.

Healing is growth of new tissue, and that is her magicks highest form, its most noble purpose. Healing is controlled though. Eventually the cells know to stop dividing and creating new tissue. Cancer is very similar to healing with the exception that the division of cells does not stop. She tried to heal him to death.

That was an outcome I did not anticipate. Though when I think on the basis of her magick it does not surprise me as much, it was just an unexpected development, perhaps something she learned while we were apart.

I needed her ability to heal, that was the magick I was trying to reawaken in her. I needed the woman who we used to call the Heir of Eir, the woman who should have been the next great healer of Asgard before it all went wrong. I needed Eir's grand niece. I started this invasion without her in the plan, but the second I saw her, I knew every chance for success would be less without her.

But I could not ask! When I wasn't looking these savages made a mortal out of her and locked away the woman I knew in the darkest parts of her mind! She did not know me, she did not know herself, and she did not know her magick!

So I did what I do best. I hurt her, again. Lies and manipulation, it is all about achieving a goal. I isolated her. I lead her with kindness but when it called for it, I showed the other side of my hand too. I lead her with words, and promises, and tokens of affection. I led her with the absence of things I really wanted, like her kiss.

I lead her with the people she cared about. The scientist I need to complete the portal. The 'brother' who is wearing her blood as he sleeps against a tree. Even the mercenary whose face she just beat in with a log for his betrayal. I set all of their motions toward this end.

To that man's credit I did not know he was one of S.H.I.E.L.D's until after I put the spear against his spine. I also did not know he was dancing on even fouler strings until after I stole his mind. As tempting as the chance to murder a HYDRA agent for their crimes against her was, he had more knowledge about what made her that way than the archer.

Instead I decided his life would be put to better use. All I had to do was cast a simple illusion to hide the glow in his eyes, and tell a man who thought she was beautiful, to be kind to her. I gave her friendship, but then when the time came I made that friendship start blooming into obsession, and I told him to call his companions.

The whole escape, from the bunker to the fields, to the bullets lodged in Barton's back were all carefully planned out. The fool became so blinded by his forced affection for her and his desire to carry her out of my reach, that he failed to see she was more of a threat then I was. He did not see that I was making her his executioner. A trusted friend turns into traitor who tried to kill her closest family, how could those emotions not make her want to kill him?

"Sir?" The blond that addresses me now is another one of HYDRA's agents whose allegiance I stole, and in fact this one is the doctor who served as the dying man's second in command.

"I will tend to her." The unspoken portion of his question is filled in by the direction of his eyes as I carefully lift her up, her head shifting softly before the drugs reclaim their hold and her face rests against my shoulder, the barest sound of words trying to escape her restless mind. "I need you to secure agent Barton, I still have plans that require him alive."

It is clear she managed to heal him, but it is more likely since her magick just reemerged that she simply poured raw energy into him and closed the most dire of the wounds. He will still require surgery if he is to survive the internal damage.

"Leave Agent Pierce." Now that her consciousness has faded, so has the volatility of her emotion driven magick, and I can see it trying to heal the very cancer it created in him. It means nothing though because if the trauma of his injuries does not kill him, his lack of consciousness and his 'betrayal' to his people will in the short time it should take them to find him.

"Have the rest of your team stay here to deal with your friends as well." After both of their leaders turned out to be HYDRA I 'recruited' the rest of the men that arrived under Mr Pierce's command. I have a better army on its way so I had no grand plans for their lives beyond ensuring their obedience, and since their former masters have sent out some of their dogs it only seems polite to let them play with each other one more time.

Not that I am terribly concerned by their presence. I am more intrigued and offended by it. I watched them shoot their own man, who by all accounts was the son of their leader. It betrayed them, their lack of loyalty to each other, and their intentions here. They only fired when she was most at risk. That's why I am intrigued.

The one who pulled the trigger, a shot into the sky would have had the same effect. It would have distracted Agent Pierce long enough for Arnora to gain the upper hand. The fact that they have done nothing to help him says they do not care about his life, so their sniper could have just as easily put a bullet in his head when he pulled back to gather momentum behind his swing. He chose to cause him pain instead, his choice was personal. Barton did not mention another marksmen in her life. I wonder who he is, this 'enemy' that cares?