Chapter Text
It had been a year since the Chitauri incident and it has been pretty much quiet for the Avengers. Of course, each of them have had their own projects to work on; but when it was necessary, they came together to stop whatever chaos was going on. But it was never anything big. That was until Thor returned with some bad news. “He what?” said a confused Steve Rogers as the five Earth-bound teammates looked at the Asgardian.
Thor sighed. “Loki managed to escape her prison. The All-Father has reason to believe that she is here on Midgard,” he explained.
“I thought that you guys would be able to keep him contained,” said Tony Stark. And that was what they all thought. They were more than happy to let the Asgardians take care of the trickster. But now… “They have any idea where on Earth she could be?” he then asked. “No pun intended of course.” Clint snorted.
“Just that she is on Midgard. She would not risk anyplace else because of the Chitauri.”
“You keep saying ‘she’,” said Natasha Romanoff. Everyone turned to the redhead as she added, “Why do you keep saying that?”
The thunder god turned a tad bit pale. “As part of the punishment, Loki’s magic was stripped down to the barest residue. But enough of it remained for her to be a problem. So the All-Father changed her into her woman form, locking the rest of her magic away. It is harder for her to get to it and she would need to try very hard to grasp even a small bit of it,” he explained. “We then kept her under constant supervision.”
“Basically on a short leash,” said Clint Barton. Thor looked at him confusingly. “You kept her close.”
“Yes, we did,” he said, finally understanding the meaning. “But then something happened and she managed to escape. As of now, we do not know how she did it.”
“She probably kept working at reaching whatever magic she could,” said Bruce Banner. “When she found something, she used it to get away.” Thor nodded, agreeing to what the scientist said.
Tony rubbed his forehead. “Well, that’s just great,” he said. “How in the world are we going to catch him…I mean her?”
“Father believes that she is slowly regaining her magic. Though without it, she can still cause much mischief,” replied Thor. The other groaned. “But as of now, we do not consider her a threat. She is likely to take her time when it comes to revenge. It is her way.”
“Is her female form permanent?” asked Natasha.
“Yes. Though a shape shifter by nature, Father made it impossible for her to go back to her male form. She can shift back to it…”
“But it won’t be her true form,” ended Bruce, picking up on what Thor was saying. Loki was stuck as a woman and may not be happy about it. “She’s been a woman before?”
“Several times,” replied Thor, a smile forming on his face as if he was remembering something. “It was one of Loki’s favorite forms.”
“Do you have a picture of what she looks like?” asked Tony. Thor nodded and put down what appeared to be a stone. Touching it, an image suddenly appeared from it, showing a beautiful woman with raven-black hair and emerald green eyes, which seemed to contrast against her pale skin. “Damn, he definitely knows how to do it,” said the billionaire with a low whistle.
Thor nodded. “Trust me, she knows how to use it,” he said.
Getting up from the table, Steve said, “Now that we know what he – she – looks like, keep an eye out.”
“I doubt that she would come near us at the moment,” said Bruce.
“Still, we need to keep watch. Who knows what he – she – can still do,” said Steve. And with that everyone got up and left, leaving Thor and Tony alone in the room.
“Think that she is going to cause any trouble?” asked Tony.
Thor sighed. “Yes,” he replied. “I just do not know how she is going to do it.” He then walked out of the room, leaving the billionaire alone in his thoughts.
***
It turned out to be sooner than expected. However, it was not in mischief – well, at least he thought it was not – but as a random thing. And it had to happen to Tony. It was a couple of days after Thor delivered the news that the inventor encountered her. He was working in his workshop trying to make updates to the suit when he heard a chuckle behind him. “I still amazes me that people would still consider you a – what was that word – hero. But mortals have such naïve minds,” said a female voice.
Startled, Tony turned around to see a dark-haired, green-eyed woman that was instantly familiar. “Loki,” he muttered.
Loki smiled. “So I see that Thor has told you about me,” she said as she sauntered up to him. “Though I hate being stuck like this, I have to admit that it does have its advantages.”
“And they said you wouldn’t make an appearance,” he said as he looked her up and down. The picture Thor showed did not do her any justice. “Tell me you’re not up to something.”
She laughed and said, “Oh, Stark, I’m always up to something. It’s just up to you if you can find out if I am or not.” She moved to stand in front of him, a finger slowly circling his arc reactor, causing him to shudder a bit. She smiled. “You’re sensitive there.”
Ignoring her comment, he asked, “What do you want?”
“I am just a bit bored,” she responded, “and decided to have a bit of fun. I do not have the strength to take you all on at once. But one of you at a time should suffice. And you seem like a perfect person to start with.” Tony grimaced at the thought. He was not too sure if he wanted to know what she was planning on doing. She then smiled and said, “You think that you know everything. But why do you need to be that way? Everyone knows that you are so damaged that you are beyond repair. So why do you care?”
He was about to say something when she suddenly disappeared. “So she can at least teleport,” he thought to himself. “JARVIS?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t mention this encounter to anyone. Not until I figure out what she is up to.”
“As you wish.”
“And file the video in a secure server under my passcodes,” he ordered as he turned back to the suit, trying to get Loki out of his mind.