#hattersmarvelverse

You pulled your phone out of your pocket, prepared to call Steve and put up with the ‘eyebrows of disappointment’ if it meant he came and rescued you.

 “Come on.” You muttered, flicking the screen in an attempt to make your phone pick up a signal.

 You held it up in the air, eyes on the signal bar when your finally realised exactly what had just happened.

 “Oh no.” You groaned.

 Loki was stood in front of you with an extremely amused expression, the sunlight highlighting the smugness in his eyes. The sunlight from both of the suns. There were two suns in the sky.

 “Have you finally caught up to the situation?” He asked.

 “I am not in fucking Kansas anymore.” You whispered, horrified.

“Welcome to , Ciegrim-7, known as ‘the Distiller's Planet.’, Kitten.” Loki said.

 You were on another planet. The dirt beneath your knees wasn’t Earth, the sky above you was on the other side of the universe. You were alone, in space, with the God of Mischief… who you’d just tried to screw over. You violently threw your useless phone at his smug face and he caught it easily without even blinking.

 “Send me back!” You ordered.

 “No.” He said simply.

 You ground your teeth together in frustration and pushed off from the ground, not bothering to straighten your stance as you wrapped your arms around Loki’s waist and used your momentum to piledrive him into the ground.

 “I’m not playing Mischief, send me back, right fucking now.” You snarled as you tried to wrap your hands around his throat.

 “We always seem to end up in this position.” He chuckled, catching your wrists with ease.  

 You were in fact straddling him again, only this time you didn’t have a handy pair of magical cuffs to use on him.

 “Why are you doing this to me?” You groaned, trying to tug your wrists out of his grip.

 “It’s not what I’m doing to you that you should be worried about, think more about what I could do with you. What we could do together.” He suggested.

 This was a bad situation, you needed to focus on that and not the fact that Loki’s body was firmer than you expected, or the way his slender fingers were locked tightly around your wrists, or the smirk on his face that said he knew exactly what you were thinking about.

 “You and your team killed or contained my last batch of recruits so as recompense you will be helping me hire some new associates.” He said, breaking through your perfectly innocent internal musings.

 “I’ll be doing what now?” You demanded.

 “The Distillers Planet is one of the best places in the galaxies to find down on their luck cutthroats with no morals and empty pockets. I’m in need of new allies, you’re going to help me.” He said, sitting up so you were face to face.

 “I’d say to give me one good reason why I would help you but I’m guessing you’re not going to send me home until I do?” You sighed.

 “It is refreshing how smart you are.” He admitted.

 “Smart enough to get the better of you almost twice, sure you wanna trust me Mischief?” You asked with a smug smirk.

 “You don’t have a way of containing me anymore kitten and you’re all alone with me. You won’t survive without my help, never mind get home back to your probably frantic Captain.” He reminded you.

 Steve… You couldn’t even imagine how he was going to react to Thor telling him Loki had taken you off world. You needed to get back to him so he could murder you for being so stupid.

 “Fine. I’ll help you Mischief.” You sighed.

 “Isn’t it better to be friends than enemies?” He asked.

 “We aren’t friends.” You insisted.

 “A claim that would have a little more bite to it if you weren’t comfortably sat on my lap.” He pointed out.

 You looked down at the practically non-existent space between your chests. You truthfully hadn’t even really thought about the compromising permission you were in when he started talking, content to just sit there while you spoke.

 “You have proven that you can hold your own against me in a fight, yet you knocked me to the ground, straddled me and then gave up. What am I to make of that?” He asked suggestively.

 “That you have comfortable thighs.” You shrugged.

 It was true, his lap was surprisingly comfy and he might be a psychotic dark god who had tried to take over your whole planet and had kidnapped you and brought you to an alien planet but you didn’t feel like you were in danger from him. Which was probably stupid of you and would definitely bite you on the ass.

 Loki however looked perplexed by your answer as you stood up and brushed the dirt from your jeans. He had probably expected you to be embarrassed or to flirt back with him, not act casual about it but you took great pleasure in being unpredictable to the chaos maker.

 ~~~Meanwhile On Earth~~~

                                                            “Can’t you track her phone?” Clint demanded.

 “It’s not meant to be taken off planet, I can’t track it when it’s god knows how many lightyears away!” Tony grumbled.

 “What about your guy in Asgard, that Heimdall fella?” Sam asked a still sheepish looking Thor.

 “Loki learned how to hide himself from Heimdall a long time ago, he can not help us.” Thor explained.

 “I can’t track the Gamma signature on the Tesseract outside of our atmosphere.” Bruce sighed.

 “So nobody can find them? Loki has her and we don’t have a clue where in the universe he’s taken her? That’s what your saying?” Steve said quietly from the back of the room.

 His voice cut through the squabbling and rendered everybody silent. He had succinctly summed up the sheer hopelessness of the situation while he stared blankly at the wall.  

 “We will find them, we will bring her home.” Thor vowed.

 “She shouldn’t be gone in the first place. What the hell were you thinking?” Bucky asked, frustration pouring off him in waves as he shot concerned side glances at Steve.

 “The Lady believed she could convince Loki to reveal the Tesseract and she was right. We almost had him, her plan was a good one.” Thor argued.

 “Can’t have been that good because not only did Loki escape with the Tesseract he took her! He took my…” Steve snapped, trailing of at the end of his sentence and swallowing thickly.

 “Your what?” Natasha asked meaningfully.

 Steve shook his head and stormed out of the room, his shoulder shaking with tense rage.

 “Let him go.” Sam said softly to Thor before the blonde god could follow him.

 “I will return her, I swear. Loki will not get away with this.” Thor said, more to himself than anyone else.

 “Don’t blame yourself pointbreak, the kids got most of us wrapped around her little finger. She’s talked us into some stupid plans as well.” Tony said, clapping Thor on the shoulder.

 “Like the time she convinced you to let her use the repulsors from your suit so she could make instant popcorn?” Sam sniggered.

 Bucky quietly slipped from the room before anyone could notice him because he knew when it came to your stupid ideas, he was the worst offender. He followed after Steve before the team decided to relive some of his greatest hits. He had a pretty good idea as to where Steve had gone and he was right. He found Steve sat on the end of your bed, a picture frame clutched in his hands.

 “We’ll bring her back. You know she’s probably panicking about how badly you’re going to ground her when she gets back.” Bucky said, leaning against the doorframe.

 “I’m not going to ground her. She’s an adult and I’m not her father.” Steve scoffed.

 “No? What you got there punk?” Bucky asked knowingly.

 Steve turned the frame around so Bucky could see the picture in it. It was a picture Bucky knew well, he was the one who had taken it and it usually resided on your bedside cabinet. After your first ever successful mission as part of the team you had fallen asleep on the quinjet and he, Natasha and Tony had stifled their laughter when Steve paused in the middle of his proud verbal re-enactment of your actions as your head slumped down onto his shoulder. Steve had looked concerned for a brief moment, rearranging his position so you wouldn’t get a cramp in your neck and then proceeded to continue with his glowing praise in a whisper. Bucky had subtly snapped the picture of you sleeping peacefully with Steve was visibly glowing with pride and affection.

 “Get up.”

 “No.”

 “You were supposed to be in the gym ten minutes ago.”

 “Five more minutes.” You bartered, burrowing down into the covers.

 “Kid, Hydra won’t give you five more minutes. I know you’re exhausted and I’ve been pushing you really hard but it’s for a reason. You need to be prepared to fight at a moments notice, no matter how tired you are.” Steve explained.

 You groaned and finally emerged from the covers, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of your eyes.

 “Good girl.” He praised, turning around to leave you to get ready when he spotted the photo on your bedside table.

 You saw where he was looking and blushed slightly.

 “I… Before this, before you, my life was pretty meaningless. Ordinary and boring and that was ok but then I met you and I thought I could be more but I was still scared. Nobody has ever taken a chance on me like you did and I like having a reminder there that someone believes in me, that I have somebody to make proud.” You whispered, too afraid to meet his eyes.

 He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed with his back to you. He fidgeted for a moment before he pulled his wallet out of his pocket and flipped it open, handing it to you. You slowly took it, your eyes getting embarrassingly damp when you saw a smaller version of the same photo, slotted between an old black and white photo of the beautiful Peggy Carter and a fairly recent picture of Bucky and Sam laughing at something off camera.

 “I am proud of you, I have been ever since you made me promise to punch that doctor in the groin if you died. I worry all the time, I hate that you chose this path because it’s so dangerous but you knew that and you did it anyway. How could I not be proud of you?” He explained and you looked up to see him staring at you with a meaningful expression.

 “I will never not be proud of you. I will be especially proud if you get up and help me and Buck run laps around Sam though.” He said with a shit eating grin.

 “Aye Aye captain.”

 “This is my fault Bucky. She was trying to get the tesseract because of me, to make me proud. I should have never let her near Loki.” Steve sighed.

 “Can it Punk. You said it yourself, she’s an adult. She’s also an Avenger. Should she have told us what she was up to? Yes, but it was a good plan. Sam said Loki reacted strangely to her, she used that to her advantage to manipulate him. She didn’t learn that from you, she learned it from me and Nat but we aren’t wallowing in guilt. Because she made her own choices and she’ll learn from her mistakes like the rest of us. So lets just focus on getting her back alright?” Bucky said with authority, stepping into the role Steve usually occupied, taking charge of the situation.

 “You’re right. Call T’Challa and see if Shuri can help. Have Natasha get a hold of Fury, I’m going to start digging through all Shields old files on the Tesseract. And I’ve changed my mind, she’s absolutely grounded when she gets back.”

 ~~~On Ciegrim-7~~~

 Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes and settled for a long, loud sigh.

 “Hurry up.” He snapped over his shoulder at you.

 You ignored him, still standing at the top of the hill, awestruck. You knew you were on a different planet and Loki had already told you that that it was populated but seeing it was a completely different thing. The city not too far in the distance was so alien and so beautiful. It was a strange mixture of a medieval village and a futuristic city. Hundreds of thatched buildings mixed in with towering metal skyscrapers and factories. Smoke plumed over the sky above the city but it was brightly coloured, green smoke drifted upwards and mingling with a purple one. It was insane and beautiful.

 “You’re forgiven.” You said, turning your eyes to Loki.

 He looked taken aback and confused.

 “For kidnapping me. If you hadn’t, I would have never seen this. I’m just a little human from Earth and I’m standing above an alien city. I… thank you.” You elaborated.

 “This is nothing to gape at, just a filthy city filled with miscreants and workers. Of all the things in the universe I could show you that would take your breath away, this is insignificant.” He scoffed.

 “Maybe to you Mischief, but I’m not a 1000 years old. I’m not numb to the beauty the universe has to offer yet.” You argued as you fell into step beside him, both of you making your way towards the wonderous city.

 “I’m not numb to beauty. True beauty is rare and astonishing and I promise, I very much appreciate it when I see it.” Loki said softly.

 It wasn’t often his voice took on that kind of tone and you looked over at him in surprise, curious about what someone like him would class as true beauty. His eyes were locked on yours and he blinked and looked away quickly.

 “Every time I start to forget how small your race is I am reminded. The universe is more vast and amazing that your tiny mind could begin to comprehend.” He sneered.

 “And it’s more beautiful than your jaded and cynical mind could begin to truly appreciate.” You rebutted.  

 “Would you like me to prove how thoroughly I can appreciate beauty, kitten?” He whispered lowly, his hand brushing over the small of your back.

 “What I’d really like Mischief, is for you to explain how exactly you expect me to help you find a band of not so merry men to join you.” You said coldly, stepping away from his touch.

 “I told you, the people here are down on their luck cutthroats. Not exactly pleasant company. I need you to make sure that while I am hiring mercenaries, another miscreant doesn’t try to put a knife in my back.” He explained with a shrug.

 You stopped dead and glared at him. He sighed and turned around to see what the hold up was, raising an eyebrow at the palpable rage coming from you.

 “You STOLE me and took me across the UNIVERSE because you needed a BODYGUARD????” You shrieked.

A/N - If you want please tell me what you thought of this chapter? What did you like? What didn’t you like? What do you want to see in the future? What do you think will happen?

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“Have you come to gloat? To taunt me?” He asked coldly.

 “Nope, I’m here to entertain you.” You said jovially, hopping down to the ground gracefully and holding up a book for him to see before you carefully slid it into the slot where his meal trays were delivered.

 “Without the permission of your teammates I see.” He noted, looking pointedly at the camera’s and ignoring the novel.

 “Better tell them you do whatever the hell you want than ask permission.” You shrugged as you settled on the floor in front of his cell, ignoring the way he towered sinisterly over you through the glass.

 “Ah, a woman after my own heart.” He teased.

 “It’s not your heart I’m interested in Mischief.” You rebutted, winking at him.

 For a brief moment he looked kind of delighted by your quick response, even going so far as to shoot you a blinding smile.

 You pulled  a deck of cards from your pocket shuffled them.

 “What are you doing?” He asked and you looked up to see him frowning down at you.

 “Entertaining you… My options are limited what with you being in a cell and all.” You told him, dealing the cards and slotting his into the metal rim that ran along the edges of the cage, keeping the cube intact.

 The backs of the cards were facing you so he could see what they were but you couldn’t.

 “I could think of ways you could… entertain me.” He said in a low voice and you laughed.

 “Well beggars can’t be choosers. Ace cards can be one or eleven, it’s up to you. Face cards are ten. The goal is to make 21 without going over, go over and you’re bust, you lose. Hit or stick… Want another card or are you happy with what you got?” You gave him the most basic explanation.

 “I’m happy with what I have.” He said.

 You shrugged and checked your own cards, managing to make 19 with your Queen of Spades and 9 of diamonds. You turned your cards over first before checking his. King of Spades and Ace of Hearts.

 “Son of a… did you use your magic?” You demanded.

 “My magic is contained by this cell.” He reminded you.

 “Sure Jan.” You muttered under your breath.

 You got a mischievous smirk on your face and reshuffled the cards.

 “My magic is intact thankfully… wanna see?” You asked him.

 “By all means… Impress me.” He smirked down at you like you were a silly child he couldn’t even be bothered placating.

 “Pick a card, any card but don’t tell me which one you pick.” You ordered, splaying the deck for him to see.

 He nodded once curtly to show he’d made his decision. You theatrically shuffled the cards one last time before tapping them and revealing the card with a flourish.

 “Is this your card?” You asked smugly.

 “No.”

 Your grin faltered.

 “Ok fine, Is this… your card?”

 “No.” He sighed, looking less than impressed.

 “Come on! Are you lying?” You asked him with a disappointed look.

 “A fair assumption but again, no. I chose The King Of Hearts. You failed to produce my card twice, so you lose.” He taunted.

 “It’s your stupid cell, it’s playing havoc with my magic.” You huffed in annoyance and shoved the cards back into your pockets.

 “Then perhaps you should let me out? We could go somewhere with no interference and make some magic together.” He offered.

 “I’m not easy Mischief.” You scoffed.

 “My mistake, I can see how I should have known you were a lady of strong character and morals.” He sassed.

 The corners of your lips twitched and you leant back on your elbows, sizing him up through the glass.

 “Why did your friend call you Kitten?” He asked abruptly.

 “I was this adorable stray that was brought back from a mission and never left. The Avengers adopted me.” You explained with a fond smile.

 Loki cocked his head, obviously expecting more information so you sighed and gave it to him, remembering the life changing event that had led to you being an Avenger.

 “The serum that made you into a god amongst men is in your blood. This serum we have developed will allow a test subjects body to absorb the characteristics of your blood… if they survive.” The Doctor explained, his clear excitement for the subject bubbling through.

 It made Steve feel sick. He pulled at the restraints pinning him to the operating table but they were strong and he was weak from blood loss as his blood was currently being extracted. He shouldn’t have gotten pulled into this situation but he’d only been given half the information. What was supposed to be a simple rescue mission had blown up in their faces because of secrets he hadn’t been privy to.

 “Bring in Patient Zero.” The Doctor ordered.

 You were dragged in by two dark suited, burly agents, a third trailing behind you with his gun drawn. One of the agents had a split lip and the other had scratch marks on his cheek.

 “Unhand me you fiends!” Yu demanded.

 “The sedatives didn’t calm her down, they just made her loopier.” One of the agents snarled.

 “It matters little, she will likely be dead soon but her corpse will provide us with information about how the serum works when combined with the Captains blood.” The scientist said giddily.

 The second you’d been dragged in, Steve had redoubled his efforts to break free and at the mention of his name your attention was drawn to him.

 “Pleasure to meet you Cap, shame about the circumstances.” You crowed loudly as you were manhandled onto a table like his.

 “Let her go! You don’t have to kill innocents to do this!” Steve yelled.

 “We won’t be using this formula on our people until it’s safer so she should be honoured. Her death will pave the path to a brave new world.” The scientist.

 “Psst, Cap.” You stage whispered.

 Steve turned to look at you.

 “Do all bad guys really talk like B-Movie villains?” You asked.

 “Enough.” The scientist hissed, slapping you across the face.

 “Oh buddy, if I survive this I swear to god I’m going to use the super strength to punch you in the dick.” You vowed.

 “Don’t worr, it is far more likely you will die, this is only a first attempt after all.” He sneered.

 “Captain, if I die punch this guy in the dick for me.” You ordered, twisting your neck so you could look him in the eye.

 There was a tick in his clenched jaw as he regarded you with a stormy gaze before he looked at the tubes that were rapidly pulling his blood from his body. He nodded once, decisively.

 “Yes ma’am.” He agreed to your request.

 What else could he say, he couldn’t promise you would survive or tell you that it was all going to be ok. All he could do was promise that you would be Avenged. You appreciated the assurance.

 “You were made into the Captains image through experimental science?” Loki asked with a frown.

 “Not his image exactly, but internally… kinda. The blood in my veins is the same blood that runs through Steve Rogers veins. He still gets ruffled if I call him dad though.” You sniggered.

 Loki seemed to take the information in blankly, his face impassive but you could see the way his eyes were looking at you in a new light, reassessing you speculatively.

 “Of course evil scientists don’t really know their stuff because they failed, epically. I would have died but Dr Banner managed to manipulate the enhanced healing aspect of the serum before I died.  I can heal anything short of a life threatening injury pretty easily.” You explained.

 “So when I hit you hard enough to discombobulate you…” Loki trailed off.

 “You’d have to hit me a hell of a lot harder to keep me down.” You scoffed.

 “Noted.” He said dryly.

 “Aw Mischief, I thought we were getting along? After I brought you books and games and everything.” You pouted.

 “If we were truly friends you wouldn’t be keeping me in a cage.” He pointed out.

 You stood up and smirked at him, leaning into the glass.

 “I like you Mischief, doesn’t mean I trust you.”

 “Wise decision Kitten, I may like you more than most of your race but I will not hesitate to kill you when I escape.” He told you, his words venomous but his tone pleasant, friendly, almost respectful.

 The camera’s beeped and you backed away from the cell.

 “I suggest you kill me first Mischief, because if you don’t I will take you down again.” You vowed and with a short running start you leapt back onto the top of the cell with ease and disappeared through a panel in the ceiling, seconds before the camera’s came back on.

 It was hours after you left when he finally grew bored enough to flip open the novel you’d brought. Something fluttered from the pages and he caught it deftly, flipping it over in his hand with an awestruck expression. There hidden in the pages of the book you’d given him before you played your failed card trick was The King Of Hearts. He dropped the book on the ground, discarding it as he turned the playing card in his hands.

 “Well played Kitten.” He muttered to himself, his lips twitching in amusement.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N – Fun fact, In my story Asgard is still there, Odin’s alive (ugh) and Hela hasn’t been freed.Ragnarok, Infinty War and Endgame don’t apply to my Marvelverse!

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“You missed the de-briefing. When I agreed to let you join the Avengers it was under certain terms, do you remember what those were?” Steve asked sternly.

 “Honestly? No. I wasn’t listening, I was just smiling and nodding along.” You said innocently.

 “Kid come on, nobody gets out of these de-briefings ok? There’s more to being a hero than punching people.” He sighed.

 “Come on Cap! Bucky, Sam and Nat have told me all the stories. You’re as much as a rule follower as I am.” You argued.

 “I’m not a great role model to have.” Steve rebutted.

 You tried to stay brave, to stay strong because you knew without a doubt that you were about to die and it probably wouldn’t be painless. There was nothing you could do about it, you couldn’t save yourself and the superhero strapped to the table next to you couldn’t either. You didn’t want to make this situation any worse for him so when they stuck the needled under your skin and you saw the blood trickling down the tubes towards your body you remained as impassive as you could.

 “Look at me.” Someone ordered and since it was The Captain and not one of your captors, you obliged.

 “I’m here ok? I’m with you.” He promised.

 If he’d lied and said you were going to be ok then you would have been able to maintain your brave façade but he had opted to give the only comfort he could. You drowned out the voices of the scientists around you and the sight of his blood being pumped into your body and focused on him, his eyes. They were full of guilt and concern for you and more than a touch of fury for what was about to happen.

 “Tell me your name.” He instructed.

 He wasn’t asking to get to know you, he wanted to be able to track down your friends and family and have something to put on your tombstone so you whispered it to him. You felt strangely cold and a shiver wracked your body, making him tense in concern.

 “I’m alone.” You said softly.

 “You aren’t, you aren’t alone, I promise.” He comforted.

 “Not here, out there. Nobody’s left to wonder where I went, what happened to me. Nobody’s gonna cry at my funeral, nobody will even turn up.” You whispered.

 So much for remaining impassive. You couldn’t help it, you were thinking back on your whole life, your tragically short and unimportant life. Maybe if you’d tried harder, been more friendly, been more loveable then you wouldn’t be such an easy target for these creeps. But it was too late and you were going to die here and all that would be left to remember you by would be Steve Rogers guilt.

 “I’ll go. I will.” He said but you had already turned away, you were barely listening anymore because you’d heard the scientist give the next order.

 “Inject her with the new serum.”

 “This will hurt I’m afraid, the easiest way for us to administer is to inject it directly into the heart.” The creepy doctor said, but he didn’t sound regretful.

 There was nowhere for you to wriggle away to, you were strapped down too tightly but when the massive needle entered your field of vision you tried anyway. You heard Steve yelling in the background and telling you to close your eyes but you couldn’t. No matter how afraid you were, you weren’t going to turn away.

 It did hurt, it hurt like hell. But the pain paled in comparison to the burn when the serum started burning through your veins, mingling with the foreign blood. It crept through your system like molten lave, setting you alight from within until your whole body was on fire. When it hit your brain you lost all sense of yourself, reduced to a husk of agony. All you could feel was pain, all you could hear was screaming. You were screaming so loudly it sounded like several people yelling.

 Wait.

 It was…

 There was something happening outside of your bubble of pain and you thought that maybe you should care about it but a fresh wave of agony roared through you and you forgot all about it. Until someone said your name loudly and your restraints were ripped apart. Without them to hold you down you were thrashing wildly and you kind of noticed when you fell from the table before someone caught you and held down.

 “Look at me. LOOK AT ME!” They said.

 You grit your teeth and dug deep down for the strength and resolve to do what they said because something in your mind recognised the voice. You managed to squint enough to make out the blurry, terrified face of Steve Rogers. He looked as bad as you felt, probably because he’d been drained of quite a lot of blood. Blood that was now in your veins, tainted by poison and killing you.

 “Just hold on ok? Doctor Banner is going to save you, you’re going to be ok kid. You’re going to be ok. I promise.”

 “I won’t miss any more briefings or de-briefings ok? I promise.” You told him.

 “I’m going to hold you to that.”

 “You’ve never broken a promise to me, I won’t break any I make to you.” You said quietly.

 He jerked slightly at your statement and there was a flash of guilt in him. He still felt responsible for what had happened that day, for the way you had suffered. And the way you had been forever changed by it, in more ways than one.

 When you had woken up in The Avengers compound he had been asleep in a chair next to your bed, watching over you. He had been the one to explain how you were different now, how you were a super soldier (though you had argued that you weren’t a super soldier if you weren’t a soldier to begin with, you were more like a super bartender). He had wanted to give you a new identity and send you into the world, keeping your new abilities a secret. You had suggested that you had to do right by his blood, thinking you had a legacy to love up to. He had argued with you for days, huffing with disapproval the first time he had caught you in the gym sparring with Natasha. He had crossed his arms and glared when he found Sam instructing you in the shooting range. He held firm even when the rest of his team accepted the inevitable.

 It was when he walked past your room one night and heard your screaming and rushed inside to wake you from the nightmare that he finally realized he didn’t have a say.

 “There are bad people in the world Steve and they’re going to hurt people like I was hurt. You saved me, why can’t I at least try to save them. Let me learn, let me try.” You had begged.

 He realized it was more than just blood you had in common. And he knew without a doubt that you were going to do whatever you felt you needed to do, regardless of what he said. So he took over your training, pushing you to the limit of your abilities every day. He dragged you to therapists appointments and learned how to make hot chocolate the way you liked it for when you had nightmares. You had been through enough together that he knew if you made a promise to him, you would never break it.

 “Alright kid, I believe you. You’re still in trouble for missing this one though. I want your report done by first thing in the morning. We start training at 5am.”

 “5am?! Are you fuc… fine, ok, yip, I’ll do that.” You agreed, mentally calculating how many brownies it would take to bribe Bucky into doing it for you.

 “And you can’t make Bucky do it for you.” He added.

 You glared at him as he smirked smugly and left you seething to yourself in the kitchen.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 The next time the camera’s beeped, Loki was waiting.

 “How did you do it?” He demanded as soon as your feet touched the floor.

 “Do what?” You asked innocently.

 He held up the King of Hearts with an almost petulant expression. He’d spent the last few days wracking his brain, trying to work out how had done it. The fact that a mortal could confound him with a simple card trick had sent him through a myriad of feelings. Disbelief, scorn, fury and eventually, begrudging respect.

 “Told ya Mischief, I’ve got a little magic of my own.” You smirked.

 “I could show you real magic if not for this infernal cell. Is it necessary to inhibit my magic inside it? Am I really to be so cut of from my senses?” He demanded haughtily.

 “You realize that it’s a cell on this planet or a cell on Asgard. According to Thor, the almighty Odin isn’t happy with you.” You reminded him.

 “He was never happy with me.” Loki snarled.

 “Yeah, from everything Thor’s told me, I have to ask, what exactly is Odin the god of? Bad parenting?” You scoffed.

 Loki smirked approvingly.

 “I would love to hear you say that to him.” He admitted.

 “You say that like I wouldn’t do it. Take me to Asgard right now and I’ll tear him a new one. Or as much as I can before he smites me.” You offered.

 “I don’t doubt you kitten and it is gratifying to hear.”

 “I might sympathise with you mischief but I’m not excusing your actions.”

 He wasn’t offended, he actually nodded at you as if to agree with your assessment.

 “That is fair. I did try to conquer your realm, I can see why you might take offence.”

 You frowned at how reasonable he sounded.

 “Humans like all vermin will rebel against the superior predator that reminds them how small and insignificant they are.” He said and you rolled your eyes.

 “Well Mr Superior don’t forget that it was the least trained Avenger who captured your ass.” You teased.

 “Not through strength or skill, you tricked me into thinking you were weaker than you were.” He said sullenly.

 “I thought you liked tricks?” You asked.

 “Oh I do kitten. I’ve studied the archaic runes your wizard has covered this cell in. There’s one down here that could be removed. It would allow my magic within this cell but not outside of it.” He said charmingly, practically fluttering his eyelashes at you in a blatant attempt to have you remove it.

 You knelt down to where he was gesturing and studied the runes scratched into the glass. You hadn’t noticed them before.

 “This one?” You asked, pointing to it.

 He narrowed his eyes, suspicious of your easy attitude but nodded. You grinned and pulled a knife from your belt, flipping it in your hand like Bucky had taught you.

 “So if I scratch it out, you’ll be able to use your magic in there?” You checked.

 “I would.” He chuckled. “But we both know you won’t do it, so lets drop the charade.”

 “What makes you so sure I won’t?” You pressed.

 “You’re too smart to trust me kitten.”

 “So you think I’m smart?” You asked with a grin.

 “For a mortal.” He amended.

 “Nope, you complimented me, you can’t take it back.” You said happily.

 “Even mouldy bread can start to look appetizing to a starving man.” He snarked.

 “You’re supposed to be silver tongued, not sharp tongued.” You huffed.

 “You’ll find my tongue is capable of many different things.” He said slyly.

 “When?” You asked.

 “Pardon?”

 “You said I’ll find your tongue is capable of many different things… When will I find this out?” You elaborated.

 “When you remove that pesky rune.” He suggested.

 “Surely you can make me a better offer than that Mischief.” You said.

 “Are you suggesting a deal kitten?”

 “Seems that way.” You confirmed.

 He tilted his head as he mulled it over and you could almost see the gears turning in his head. Your offer was genuine and he could see it.

 “Remove the rune and I will give you a gift, something you will be the first mortal to enjoy. Something from Asgard.” He offered.

 It seemed like a harmless deal and a fair one. You dragged the tip of the blade across the rune, scratching a line through it and negating it. Loki seemed to stand straighter when you did, he automatically became more imposing.

 “I am still contained, I can neither move myself or anything beyond my confinement. But I can summon things here.” He said as he moved to the tray slot.

 There was a flash of green in his hand and he pushed something through the slot towards you. You automatically caught it before it hit the ground and you marvelled at it. It was a fruit of some kind, like a small apple that fit neatly in the palm of your hand but it was a dark purple, almost black.

 “It is an Elfhett, they grow on the low hanging branches of the trees that are deepest in the forest of Asgard.” He explained.

 “And how poisonous are they?” You asked wryly.

 “You are my only company kitten, it would serve me no purpose to kill you while you may still be of use to me.” He assured, though it was hardly assuring.

 “Eat the apple Eve, said the serpent.” You muttered.

 You used your knife to cut a slice out of the fruit, making a noise of happy surprise when you saw the inside was a dark blue, rippled with shining black specs. Spearing the piece on the end of the blade you slowly brought it to your lips. Loki watched you expectantly as it passed your lips.

 It tasted like nothing you’d ever tasted and somehow you could taste that it wasn’t of this world. It melted on your tongue like chocolate, not apple like in the slightest. He looked smug at your clear enjoyance of it.

 “And now that I’ve fulfilled my deal with you kitten, magic may not allow me to escape this cell but it will allow me to summon something that can.” He crowed victoriously.

 There was a telling flash of green light and then Loki was holding the glowing blue cube you’d only ever seen in photo’s and videos. The tesseract.

 Before Loki could use the infinity stone to make his escape an alarm blared and the glass separating you both shattered as a current of electricity was shot through it from the metal grating it was built into and the knife in your hand was whizzing through the air, sinking into his hand. The hand that was holding the tesseract. He looked briefly amused and maybe even impressed.

 The doors crashed open and Thor stormed in, Mjolnir at the ready.

 “Loki! Hand over the tesseract!” The golden haired god of thunder demanded in a voice that was reminiscent of his title.

 “No brother, I don’t think I will.” Loki said calmly.

 You and Thor shared a brief look of panic. When you’d come up with this idea, this had not been a part of your plan.

 After loki had been cuffed by you and led away, the team boarded the quinjet and set a course for the facilty they were putting Loki.

 “Loki took the tesseract from the vaults of Asgard when he was impersonating my father and used to escape when his ruse was discovered.” Thor said.

 “We searched him and he definitely doesn’t have the tesseract anymore.” Natasha stated.

 “So he’s hidden it somewhere? It could be anywhere in the whole universe.” Tony sighed.

 You tuned out the rest of the conversation as your mind spun with the possibilities, formulating a plan. As the team disembarked the quinjet you ran up behind Thor.

 “I think we can get the tesseract back from Loki, but there’s a catch.” You whispered.

 Thor frowned at you, looking around before grasping your elbow gently and tugging you aside.

 “What is you plan and this catch you speak of?” He asked.

 “Well first up, Steve will never agree to this, he’ll hate it so the catch is we are on our own here. But you know Loki better than anybody and it was Asgard he stole the tesseract from. So what do you say?” You asked with a smirk, offering Thor your hand.

 He looked torn, not wanting to deceive Steve or the team but needing to recover the tesseract before it fell back into Loki’s hands, or the hands of someone worse.

 “I’m listening.” He finally said.

 You’d embedded a knife in Loki’s hand and he hadn’t even flinched, let alone dropped the tesseract like you’d been banking on. Thor twirled Mjolnir but Loki quickly stood behind you, wrapping his free arm around your throat.

 “You want a rematch Mischief?” You hissed.

 “Don’t think of this as me using you as a human shield, think of it more as me not wasting an opportunity to be pressed against you.” He whispered in your ear.

 “Loki release her!” Thor boomed.

 You were waiting for the right moment to fight back, not wanting Loki to use the tesseract to slip away. If he did that you would have a hell of a time trying to explain this to Steve. Your heart panged painfully at the disappointed look he would give you if you fucked this up. He’d done so much for you, you wanted, no you needed to make him proud. You needed to show him he hadn’t made a mistake by taking you in.

 You leaned back against Loki, pressing your back to his chest.

 “I’m perfectly fine where I am.” You said, winking at Thor to reassure him.

 “I will release her unharmed, you have my word brother.” Loki said solemnly.

 Your arm shot up, with the intention of knocking the tesseract away from Loki.

 “I just won’t be releasing her on this planet.” Loki hissed.

 “LOKI NO!”

 You saw Thor dive towards you and then all you could see was blue light everywhere as Loki’s grip tightened on you.

A/N - If you want please tell me what you thought of this chapter? What did you like? What didn’t you like? What do you want to see in the future? What do you think will happen? 

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