Hi everyone! Welcome to yet another Loki fanfic. Just a heads up that this is an eventual Loki/OC - it's going to be an "enemies to friends to lovers" type of deal with a lot of interactions along the way.

This fic begins at the end of Avengers and will take place before and during Dark World and Ragnarok. I'll be sticking mostly to canon with a few small exceptions and the time between events might shift a bit from the movies.

If anyone has read my previous fic The Story of a Fallen Star this is going to be very different to that. I want to explore a different side of Loki, the one we got to know in Ragnarok.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!


Onism: the awareness of how little of the world you'll see.


When the sky split open above New York, spilling forth alien creatures from the other side of the universe and the city around her had descended into chaos, all Reagan could think was, "I should never have visited Norway."

It had been a reward to herself for graduating college; her solo trip abroad. She had put the hard yards in, scrimping and saving, working two jobs and all the while, studying into the early hours of the morning, night after night, to maintain her grades. Four long years of hard work had finally come to an end and all she'd wanted was to indulge in that aching need to see some small fragment of the world before she got lost in a career, a relationship, maybe even a family. Just a little bit of adventure before she settled comfortably into normalcy.

As it would turn out, normalcy was the last thing that awaited her.

Reagan had chosen Norway in the hope to connect to her roots. She'd known it was where her ancestors had come from before migrating over to America, but in truth, she knew precious little about her heritage. Only a few years earlier, she'd had no interest in finding out. Rather, it had always been her mother's dream to travel to Norway. She'd never gotten the chance. Reagan had hoped the trip might help her to feel more connected to her after her passing. And for a fleeting moment, she had achieved exactly that, or so she'd thought.

It had happened on a frost-bitten night alone beneath the Aurora Borealis, in a country that was not her own, yet where she sorely wanted to feel like she belonged. She'd had her arms wrapped tightly around herself in an attempt to stave off the chill in the air, and as she watched the strange, beautiful lights dance above her, a warm presence had washed over her. It had felt safe and comfortable and strangely familiar. She had smiled, thinking perhaps it was her mother looking down on her, letting her know she was there with her. At that moment, the northern lights had seemed to ripple and shine more vividly, and she'd thought vaguely that it was probably just her imagination getting carried away in the moment.

Until she'd noticed the ground beneath her feet.

A rich, orange glow pulsed underneath her, steadily growing brighter second by second. She had taken a step back, uncertain of what she was seeing, but the light moved with her as if it were her own shadow. Panic gripped her as brilliant golden veins of light seeped out around her like roots. Blindingly bright and seemingly drawing energy from the earth below, connecting her to it. Before long, the tendrils of light laced their way up her feet, up her legs, travelling up her torso, and it spread until her entire body was encapsulated with an overwhelming hum of power. The air had rushed out of her and heat - scorching heat - had filled her until it was almost unbearable. She had tried to run. She had tried to scream. But whatever this strange force was, its hold on her was unshakable. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was a strange voice whispering words to her in a language she didn't understand, as flames had burst to life over every inch of her skin.

When she had come to, the sun had risen. She had looked around herself, disconcerted. She was alone, in the hills of Norway, a wide circle of scorched earth surrounded her, bordered by thick snow. She looked down at herself and a strangled cry escaped her chest. She was stark naked and covered in ash, but that was far from what shocked her. Brilliant flames licked and curled and danced their way up and down her entire body, yet they did not burn her. She lifted her trembling hands to her eyes and watched as her skin glowed and the fire surrounding her palms ebbed and flowed. Slowly, she had stood, the flames dancing over every inch of her. Her hair ebbed within the firelight, moving as if it were underwater.

She'd been alone and afraid and with no clue of what had happened or what to do. Reagan had no choice but to trudge back towards the town barefoot, nude and completely engulfed in flames. With every step, the panic had risen and with it, the fire. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she tried to cover her naked chest with her arms as she cried out, desperate for help.

People had screamed when they'd seen her. Even as she had reached out her hands and begged for help, they had called her 'demon.' They'd run from her. Some had even thrown things. And still, the flames had grown higher.

When SHIELD had finally been called in, half the mountainside had been set alight. Reagan had unwittingly set fire to more than half the buildings in that small Norwegian town, and the few townsfolk who had remained behind had abandoned any attempt to quell the flames which engulfed her body, focusing instead on desperate attempts to save their burning homes.

Reagan had sat, curled helplessly into a ball, in the town square, begging for someone - anyone - to make it stop when SHIELD agents had descended upon her. They had dowsed her in liquid nitrogen, at last extinguishing the flames and with that, she had slipped into unconsciousness. She'd awoken days later in a glass cell, a drip embedded in her arm, feeding her a cocktail of drugs to keep her sedated.

Nick Fury stood at the end of her bed, stoic, foreboding. His one good eye fixed resolutely upon her.

"You mind explaining to me what the hell that was?" He'd asked her.

Fresh tears had welled in her eyes. "Did I kill anyone?" Reagan managed to whimper.

Fury was silent for a few moments, he studied the way she squeezed her eyes shut, in dread of what his answer might be.

"No, you didn't kill anyone," he said, at last, taking pity on her and she let loose a heavy sob of relief. "We had to evac a lot of people to nearby hospitals though. Whole lotta injuries. Whole lotta burns."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, looking up at him. "I didn't know what to do. I just- I needed help. I didn't know how to stop it."

"And what is it exactly?"

With a dry throat, Reagan told him her story - the presence she had felt, waking up to find herself engulfed in flames. It was safe to say that once she was finished, Fury was less than satisfied with the amount of information she was able to give him. He'd had Reagan indicate on a map the area of the mountainside where the phenomenon had occurred. The area had been quarantined and SHIELD's science division was set to work, running every test they could think of. Reagan had consented to the tests they wanted to run on her as well.

"Do whatever you need to do," she had told them, as she scrawled her signature across form after form. "Just please figure out how to get it out of me."

Days had rolled into weeks and into months, and no progress seemed to be made. She'd been poked, stabbed and prodded in every way imaginable. Not once did she complain. Not until they'd asked her to try and conjure the flames again.

"I won't," she'd told them, adamantly.

It took a long time for Fury to get through to her. To convince her that if she didn't want to be a victim of whatever this thing was, then she needed to learn to control it. SHIELD had the means, he told her, facilities where she could safely practice unleashing and, in turn, honing her new powers without fear of hurting people. It was that, or a life of sedatives, solitude and fear.

And so, her training had begun.

Only four years had passed since then, but it felt like a lifetime. And now suddenly there she stood, alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the only defence between Loki's army of Chitauri and the people of Earth.

Fury had had his concerns as to whether she was ready - Reagan would have been lying if she'd said she didn't have doubts, herself. But after all the damage Loki had inflicted, they had no choice but to come at him with everything they had.

Flames danced between Reagan's fingertips as she stared up at the portal once more. She clenched her fists and set her shoulders, ready to set the world on fire.


Reagan tried to ignore the smell of burning flesh filling the air as she drew on the well of power deep within her chest to launch another blast of flames at the approaching Chitauri. The creatures shrieked in pain as they were engulfed in fire and fell from the sky.

Standing atop Stark Tower, she glanced over her shoulder to see Natasha Romanov helping Erik Selvig to his feet. She couldn't hear what was being said as she sent another blast of flames at yet another incoming attacker, but she looked over just in time to see Natasha's eye grow wide.

"Cover me!" Natasha shouted over the roar of battle below, as she bolted for the sceptre - their only chance of closing the portal.

Reagan's hair licked around her shoulders like flames themselves and she summoned forth another burst of energy to keep the aliens clear of Natasha's path. She could feel the fabric covering her arms beginning to crackle and break down under the force of her fire, despite the years of work SHIELD's science divisions had put into making her uniform flame retardant.

When the portal closed at last and the Chitauri fell lifeless throughout the city, Natasha had thrown her arms around Reagan as they laughed joyously in celebration - that had shocked Reagan more than the existence of those strange and terrifying aliens ever could.


Even after the Chitauri had been defeated, and Stark had survived his fall back through the portal, Reagan still didn't allow herself to breathe a sigh of relief until she watched Thor finally clasp the shackles around Loki's wrists. The moment she heard them 'click' shut, the tension that had coiled its way up her spine seemed to unfurl. It felt like an ending; like they were finally finished. She turned away and trudged towards Tony's bar.

The battle had been intense and draining, and she graciously took the large glass of scotch Clint Barton offered to her as she approached. It crossed her mind briefly that it might just be the most expensive glass of alcohol she'd ever drink in her life. She swallowed it in two large gulps.

"'Atta girl," Clint said with a smile, before throwing back his own.

They leaned against the bar, side by side, watching as the STRIKE team and SHIELD agents filed into the room to secure the sceptre. Clint poured each of them a second-round and Reagan accepted it, fully intending to drink it slower than the first. Already, she could feel a comfortable warmth soaking through her chest and her nerves begin to ease if only a little.

Yet even as she tried to relax, her mind shifted back to Loki. It was as if he were a magnet, a black hole, sucking everything in the room towards him. His presence seemed overbearing - suffocating - as if he were the only other person in the room with her. She could hardly stand it.

Almost involuntarily, Reagan's eyes drifted towards him, and she was mildly surprised to see his gaze was already resting on her. A chill ran down her spine and a knowing smirk pulled at his lips, almost as though he could sense her fear. That strange magnetic surge seemed to pulsate off him again. It felt like something had hooked in behind her navel, determined to reel her in closer. She shivered and tried to shake the feeling off as her stomach clenched uneasily. Barton, who had pointedly been avoiding paying any attention to the trickster, picked up on her discomfort and moved closer to her.

"Hey," he said as he gave her an affectionate flick on the arm. "Ignore him. He's done all the damage he's going to do. As soon as Thunderpants gets him out of here, he'll be nothing but an unpleasant memory."

Reagan nodded, nursing her scotch up close to her lips. Her eyes were still trained and distrustful upon the so-called god. Another pulse rolled over her. She huffed and turned her back to him. The action set the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end, and fight or flight responses rose in her, warning her not to turn her back on a predator, but she couldn't stand to look at him anymore. And a small, secret part of her didn't want him to think she was afraid. The pulse came again.

"How is he doing that?" She muttered in frustration, more to herself than to Clint.

"Doing what?"

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she glanced at the archer. "You don't feel it? That... pull? Like he's trying to draw us all in?"

Barton studied her before he glanced Loki's way. "No, I don't."

"Well, I don't like it." She downed the last of her scotch and set her glass down hard on the countertop. "It's creepy."

"Yeah, well, he is a creep." Clint agreed.

Reagan knew he was trying to sound light-hearted, but there was something heavier laced in his words. She couldn't imagine how he must have felt after waking up from Loki's control. Knowing he'd tried to hurt people he cared about. Knowing the secrets he must have readily given away. She knew deep down that he felt like a traitor, and that was the last thing she'd ever think of Clint Barton as. Neither she nor Nat would have ever accepted it. Sympathy swelled in her chest.

"You should have seen what Hulk did to him," she smirked sideways at Clint, in an attempt to cheer him up. "Swung him around like a damn rag doll. If I hadn't been so worried that we were all about to die, it would have been hysterical."

Clint huffed out a small laugh. "Yeah, I'm sorry I missed it."

They fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments before she spoke once more.

"What's going to happen to him now?" she murmured to him.

"Hopefully, Asgard has some reinforced prison cell that he can rot away in somewhere," Nat answered as she approached. She placed her own empty glass down on the bar and cocked her head towards the elevator. "Let's get going. Stark's insisting on heading to that shawarma place a few blocks over."

"Do they serve booze?" Clint asked as they made their way toward the elevator


Reagan offered Hulk a sympathetic smile as he was turned away from the already-full elevator, the doors closed between them, forcing him to take the stairs. There was just no way the green giant was going to fit, not with the two Asgardians, Stark, Natasha and Reagan already piled in, along with a STRIKE team running point on them until Thor and Loki took their leave. The elevator began its descent and Nat let out a low grunt of discomfort.

Reagan glanced her way. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Nat nodded and rolled her shoulder a little, pressing her fingers into the joint. "Yeah, it's nothing. One of those freaks slammed into me a little harder than I was ready for."

She stretched her arm out, moving it around experimentally.

It was an accident.

Reagan didn't mean to touch him - hadn't wanted to touch him. She was just trying to step aside to make a little more space for Nat to stretch when her arm had brushed gently against Loki's.

That was all it took. Suddenly, she wasn't alone in her own head anymore.

The pair of them jolted at the contact. A deep surge of electric energy passed between them that instantly sizzled down into her bones. Reagan's head began to swarm with new thoughts, feelings, images - things that were not her own. Whole and fragmented. Linear and shattered. Soft as a whisper and deafeningly loud. Lights. Colours. Flashes. It was an assault like no other she had ever experienced. The magnetic presence that she had sensed pulsating off of Loki earlier now seemed to come from where he stood beside her and from within her own mind, all at once. It was more than magnetic, it was... gravitational. Tethering her. Suffocating her. Consuming her.

What is this? Loki's voice sounded in her mind as clearly as if it were her own. How are you doing this?

Reagan rounded on him, clutching at her temples. She was barely able to keep her vision straight with invading onslaught happening within her own mind. She glared daggers at him through tear-rimmed eyes, too overwhelmed to notice the way Loki's own eyes were fixed on hers, wide and panicked.

"What are you doing? What the hell are you doing to me?!" She hissed, flames bursting to life over every inch of her skin as she forced herself to stand tall to face him, fighting against the storm raging within her own head.

Chaos erupted. SHIELD agents drew their weapons. Tony and Nat attempted to pull her back but with her whole body set aflame, she was impossible to touch. Thor thrust Mjölnir into Loki's chest, pushing him forcefully against the wall.

"Get out of my head!" She shouted and power swelled up within her uncontrollably.

The elevator gave a violent jolt as energy rolled out of her, and the temperature within the confined space rose rapidly. There was a loud lurch of metal on metal as the elevator rocked once more and came to a jarring halt.

"Reagan!" Nat shouted desperately as she braced herself against the elevator wall, cringing away from the suffocating heat. "Reagan, you have to calm down or you're going to roast us all alive!"

That seemed to shake Reagan back to reality and she realised she was engulfed in flames. Everyone had pressed themselves up against the walls of the elevator wall, save for Thor who stood between Loki and Reagan, trying to keep any fight that might erupt at bay. Reagan breathed in a shaky breath and forced herself to quell the flames.

"He's in my head!" she snarled through gritted teeth, fighting to force out the images of him, the presence of him from her mind. This was nothing like what Clint had described to them, but that didn't matter, all that did matter was that she wouldn't allow him to use her. She wouldn't be the weapon he wielded to hurt her friends.

This is your doing, witch. His voice echoed through her mind once more and she snarled at him.

"Loki, stop this!" Thor ordered, glaring at his brother.

Loki had been staring at Reagan, unblinking, as the chaos unfolded around them in the confined space of the Stark Tower elevator. Muzzled and unable to respond, Loki's eyes shot to Thor's and he quickly shook his head. The only indicator that he could offer that this was not, in fact, his doing. His eyes met hers again and she felt hate surge forth from him, invading her mind. But not just hate, she realised. There was panic there too, a panic that matched her own.

How are you doing this?

Though no one else seemed to, Reagan heard the words inside her head once again as clear as day.

"Shut up! Get out of my head!"

Filthy mortal. This is your doing, not mine!

"This isn't me!" She shot back at him, incredulously.

"Whoa, what the hell is that?" Stark's voice cut through the atmosphere as he gestured at Reagan's forearm.

Reagan glanced down to see golden light bursting through the crackled fabric of her burned sleeve. She tore away the frail, singed fabric from her right arm, the same arm which had brushed against Loki's, and blinding light burst from her skin, filling the room. They all had to shield their eyes from the light and though Reagan braced herself for pain, none came. Soon the light dulled and she was able to open her eyes again. When Reagan looked to inspect her skin for any damage, her eyes widened. There were markings there emblazoned upon her skin - a tattoo she had never seen before.

No, not a tattoo, Reagan thought. After all, she had plenty of those. This was something different.

It was a cuff of intricate markings. Symbols - runes - that Regan didn't recognise. They were impossibly delicate, interwoven into each other in a thousand, thousand different ways. The entire marking held a strange pearlescent mix of deep purples and greens which shifted and swirled as Reagan adjusted the angle of her arm. She realised too, that it reflected gold when it caught the light in just the right way. Even in that moment of confusion, Reagan couldn't help but think of it as one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen.

She rubbed at the markings as if it might cause them to smudge or fade. They only glimmered stubbornly in the changing angles of light.

"It won't come off," she muttered, trying to stay calm. "What is it? What's he done to me?"

Thor moved towards her and took a gentle hold of her forearm, he ran his thumb over the strange markings. It seemed to break her from her trance. She looked up at him, waiting eagerly for answers but something uncomfortable began to knot in her gut when she saw the look on his face. Thor looked... afraid. He studied her arm for what felt like an eternity, everyone else just stood and watched, unsure of what to do. Reagan's heart thundered in her chest. She was certain they could all hear it. She was certain Loki could.

"This is not Loki's doing," he said barely loud enough for Reagan to hear it, lost in thought. "This is ancient magic. Magic I thought to no longer exist."

Still holding onto her arm, he turned to look at his brother. Loki's eyes, which had been glued to the patterns on her arm, shifted suddenly to meet Thor's. A strange, unspoken understanding passed between the pair. Thor, at last, let go of Reagan and moved towards Loki, taking hold of his arm instead. Loki did not resist as Thor pulled back his sleeve, and neither seemed surprised to find an identical marking adorning his pale forearm. Reagan felt his pure dread, spiralling down the strange new link between them.

If it were possible, her heart began to beat even faster. "What is it?"

Thor didn't respond to her question. He looked Loki in the eye once more. His entire demeanour towards his brother had shifted into something unreadable.

"It's another one of his spells, right?" Natasha asked, trying to draw his attention away from Loki and back to Reagan.

"No, not this," Thor responded slowly. He turned to Reagan once again, his eyes darkening. "You need to come with us, to Asgard. This is something Odin needs to see."

The elevator then hummed back to life and began its descent once again.

"Why?" Reagan asked, her voice strained.

"I will explain everything once we reach Asgard. For now, we need to go."

This can't be happening. Loki's voice sounded in her mind once more.

The elevator doors opened at last at the ground level, and Thor pulled Loki towards the exit. A sense of urgency now hung in the air and Reagan felt nausea begin to brew in the pit of her stomach. Captain America had been waiting for them, along with an assortment of SHIELD agents. His eyes fell on Reagan immediately, and she assumed he'd already been alerted as to what had just unfolded. Thor approached him and in hushed voices the pair exchanged words. Cap pulled back to meet Thor's eye, he studied him silently before he nodded. That seemed to be all Thor needed. He turned instantly towards Reagan and beckoned her forward.

"We must go at once," he told her, his hand coming to rest on the small of her back as he ushered her towards the door. He pulled Loki along by the shackles behind them.

Reagan felt resentment roll down the link and fleetingly she heard his voice again, though it seemed foggier and further away.

Not his to touch.

Her eyes flickered to him, unsure of what that was supposed to mean, but he would not look her way.

"Hey!" she heard Nat call from behind her as they hurried out of the building. "Hey! Big guy!"

Thor slowed and turned to face her, his hand still on Reagan, as if he was nervous she might bolt if her didn't keep his hold on her.

Nat came to stand in front of him, squaring her shoulders resolutely as she stared up at the God of Thunder who towered over her.

"You listen to me. You don't let anything happen to her, do you understand me?" Her eyes flicked from Thor to Loki with a distrustful glance, and then back again.

Thor nodded. "She will be under my protection." He assured Natasha.

Reagan reached out and squeezed Nat's hand quickly, reassuringly. "I'll see you soon." She promised, feigning confidence. Yet even as she said the words, she felt a sense of dread that it was far from the truth.

Without any more hesitation, Thor wrapped a strong arm around her waist and pulled her close, securing her to his side. Reagan couldn't be sure but she thought for a moment she caught Loki scowling at the action.

The world then shifted around her into a rush of vibrant colours and the ground fell away beneath her feet as the Bifrost carried them away from Earth, towards Asgard.


What remained of the Avengers team stood in a circle, staring at the empty pavement where Reagan and the two Asgardians had disappeared in a brilliant blur of light. Heaviness hung in the air, uncertainty about what her fate might be and what the strange matching markings had meant.

"Okay, but," Tony Stark began after a few beats of silence. "The rest of us are still on for shawarma though, right?"


Thanks for reading! More will be posted soon.

If you'd like to leave a review it would be greatly appreciated, I really enjoy reading feedback.

There will be more info on where Reagan's powers came from and her relationship with Natasha and Clint in later chapters.