The Dragon Princess (Bucky Pairing)

8

As they are waiting to locate Loki using satellite facial recognition, Coulson and Steve stand side by side, waiting. Ashley lounges on a chair. Two cats sit besides her, Zephyr and Brooklyn.

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble." Phil states.

"No, no. It's fine." Steve smiles.

"It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but..." Phil trails off.

"We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Weight, cross match, seventy- nine percent." An agent announes.

"Location?" Phil inquires.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding." The agent responds.

"Captain, Shifter, you're up." Fury offers. Steve nods and leaves. Ashley smiles and follows Steve, with the two cat on her heels.

***

Ashley rolls her arms in circles. Zephyr grins as he takes a few practise swipes. Brooklyn counts her ammunition and loads her gun.

"I mean fathers smith has done a great job." Ashley comments. "Remind me to thank him." Brooklyn nods, writing it down on her phone. Ashley is wearing black and red armor, to represent her dragon form. The suit is made out of metal but its designed into dragon scales to allow maximum flexibility and durability. Her twin swords are over each shoulder, a dagger and pistol at each hip. Brooklyn wears a reinforced black leather suit, a gun is on her back and a pistol and knife at each hip. Zephyr wears reinforced combat style outfit, he has a sword over his shoulder and a gun over his other. He also has a pistol and knife at each hip. The three leave their room and head to the jet.

"Youve got an upgrade." Steve offers. Ashley grins.

"Dad did say. Only the best for his best." Ashley shrugs.

***

The crowd runs away, Loki slowly walks out and materializes in his gold armor and helmet. The police arrive and with no hesitation, he blasts the cars, flipping them over and over.

"Kneel before me." Loki orders. The crowd ignores him. Another Loki appears, blocking the crowd. Loki after Loki appears, they all grin as they raise their spears, encircling the crowd. "I said. KNEEL!!!" Everyone becomes quiet and kneels in front him. Loki embracing his arms out, smiling. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." As the words resonate to the kneeling crowd, an elder German man refuses to kneel and stands, heroic.

"Not to men like you." The man spits.

"There are no men like me." Loki corrects.

"There are always men like you." The man hisses.

"Look to your elder, people." Loki laughs. "Let him be an example." Loki is about to execute him with his scepter as the light glows blue. Just as the energy beam shoots out, Steve arrives. He dives in just in time and blocks the blast with his shield, knocking down Loki on his ass.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Steve jokes. Ashley lands next to him.

"Yeah. Something along those lines." She shrugs and unsheathes her swords.

"The soldier. A man out of time." Loki stands up. Ashley looks offended at being somewhat ignored.

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Steve observes. From above Steve, the quinjet arrives. A machine gun is pointed towards Loki. Brooklyn and Zephyr in their dragon forms, green and gold, circle over head.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Natasha demands. Like greased lighting, Loki sends a blast of blue at the quinjet. Natasha maneuvers it just in time, giving Steve the time to throw his shield at Loki. They both begin to duke it out. Loki flings Steve to the ground. Steve then throws his shield, but Loki swats it away. Steve, using all the moves of a boxer, is knocked down by Loki. Standing over him, he points the scepter's tip on his helmet.

"Kneel." Loki snarls.

"Not today!" Steve flips and throws him in Ashleys direction. She swings at him with her swords but Loki deflects all off them, eventually knocking them out of her hands. Ashley recovers and darts around Loki, she attempts to roundhouse kick him but Loki catches her foot and flips her. She shifts into a fly halfway and flies up; she shifts back into a human and kicks him in the chin sending him sprawling backwards. They wrestle on the ground.

"Shifter." Loki spits. He catches sight of her necklace, a glowing pink stone. "The stone."

"The guy's all over the place." Natasha mutters. Suddenly, AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" overdrives the quinjets speakers.

"Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?" Tony asks. Ashley, Steve and Loki look up at the sky. Loki uses this to throw Ashley off him. Tony flies over in his Iron Man suit and blasts Loki right back to the ground. Tony touches down. He stands up and pulls out every piece of weaponry the suit has. Brooklyn and Zephyr land behind him and roar. "Make your move, Reindeer Games." Loki puts up his hands and surrenders. His armor materializes away. "Good move."

"Mr. Stark." Steve and Ashley greet.

"Captain. Agent Barnes." Tony offers. "Those your dragons?"

"My children. Zephyr and Brooklyn." Ashley corrects. "So technically yes." Brooklyn makes a rumbling sound in her throat. Ashley turns to her. "Wait a bit. You should have eaten before the mission."

"Awesome. We have two hungry dragons. Thats great." Tony mutters.