Reign

Chapter 2: Ash's Powers

An alarm was going off loudly in the room. Ash could hear it blaring in her ear. She barely opened her eyes as she managed to find her phone which she realized was ringing. She turned it on and greatly squinted through the light as she looked at who was calling her. At noticing that it was her brother who was calling she answered, "Yeah? Dammit, Jeremy, absolutely nothing could be this important! It's not even eight yet and the sun is just rising! Couldn't you have at least-"

"Ash, shut up for a second, will you? I really need to talk to you!" After he realized he had her silenced attention he continued, "News is flying all... America- all over Earth for that matter. SHIELD is.... Lo...."

Static suddenly filled her phone and she was unable to hear what he was trying to tell her about SHIELD. She shrugged her shoulders in a sleepy manner before grabbing a short and shirt along with a clean pair of underclothes as she went to the bathroom. Figi followed but only stayed sitting outside the door as she went take a quick shower.

Ash felt relieved to take a nice warm shower, though, the moment the water hit her face she remembered that she, of all people, was housing Loki. She wasted no time as she quickly rinsed the shampoo from her hair. She did this quickly as she knew she had to go check on her 'guest' as soon as possible.

As she was dressing she suddenly heard a knock coming from the door of the apartment. She quickly pulled on her hoodie and had no time to dry her hair as she rushed to the door with slightly disheveled, damp hair. Though, as she opened the door her mouth hung open.

There, right outside her door, was Captain America. He gave a small smile as he spoke with a slightly apologetic tone, "Good morning, miss. Sorry for the sudden intrusion. SHIELD is tracking down the dangerous God, Loki. He was last located somewhere near this town, we were wondering if you had seen anything strange since yesterday afternoon."

"Uh... me? Uh, well, I mean, not really... N- no." Ash seemed to stutter as she was not only far too speechless to say anything but she also didn't know what to tell him. Loki was here in her apartment, though she couldn't say that. 

He nodded his head to her. "Thank you anyway, Miss. If you do see anything we hope you'd contact SHIELD immediately."

Words seemed to have been unable to escape her mouth as she was only left nodding her head. As he left her front door she slowly closed it, lost in thought.

"You are quite odd for a foolish mortal."

Ash nearly jumped from the floor as her heart leaped to her throat in fright. She hesitantly turned only to find Loki standing by the door frame that led to the kitchen. He had a rather amused smile as he saw her fright.

"You could  have simply handed me over to SHIELD as you had many chances to do so." He sounded almost thoughtful for a moment before noting, "Perhaps you will be a rather useful mortal."

She seemed exasperated for a moment before calming her over-anxious mind. She commented quietly, "I'm not sure how you would handle a situation with a fugitive but I wasn't about to just hand you over so they could dissect you, or whatever it was they were planning on doing. You were unconscious and... wait..." She paused uncertainly as something he said caught her attention. "How long have you known that I took you?"

He took a few steps closer to her, causing her to take a step back with her heel hitting the door. She leaned back against the door becoming highly uneasy as he said in a rather snarky voice, "Oh, you mortals are all so naïve. I was not unconscious when you found me in that field. I was fully aware of all that was taking place. I made no mistake in creating the illusion of helplessness. I, however, did not anticipate that a mortal girl would not attempt to turn me in to SHIELD."