The Avenger's Witch

Chapter 5: Meeting Loki

The inside of the Gala was gorgeous. Nobody noticed my entrance thanks to a quick cloaking spell. "Dang. We need to go out more often. This is nice." I grabbed a champagne glass off a passing waiter's tray. You know you're underage, right?

"We have to blend in. Plus one drink won't do much." If she could roll her eyes, I'm sure she would be. I could sense the disappointment coming from her.

Suddenly the mark in between my shoulder's flared to life. Far more than it should with my mental shields. I looked around the room for anyone who had just entered or seemed in distress. The only person I saw out of place was a lean man coming down the stairs holding a staff. His eyes met mine and a shiver ran up my spine. He was not supposed to notice me. He gave me a smile that could melt the Arctic.

Circe's voice tickled at the back of my mind. Get a hold of yourself. I think that's Loki. We need to stop him before he hurts someone. I pulled my mind away from the burn in my back. It was too late. As he makes it down the stairs and near the stage, he flipped his cane to the other end. The guard there notices him, pulls out his gun, but Loki smashes his head. I stand still in horror. Of all my mates to not be affected by my mind shields, it had to be the raging psycho. 

Chaos erupts. Guests run out of the museum. I turn to follow as Loki grabs a doctor and flips him over onto a marble table. I ran as his screams pierce the night. As the crowd rushes away, Loki slowly walks out and materializes in golden armor with a helmet that has two long, curved horns on it and an emerald green cape. His name finally makes sense. "We're screwed."

I watch in silence as he blasts a police car away and finally snap to it. "Circe!"

On it.

She leaves my hair as I hold my hand straight up. "Vestitus." As I shouted the transformation spell for the second time tonight I felt the slight drain on my powers as Circe took a different form. Now the size of a small dog, she had a large mass of silver fur around her neck and chest, her tail made of the same stuff. She was a monochrome Flareon except for her crimson eyes, which never changed.

"Loki of Asgard, you have trespassed on a realm that is not your own without permission. It is my job to stop you."

My words seemed to have no effect but amusement on him. "So they sent my soulmate after me." The chill that ran down my spine brought down my confidence level. "Yes I can tell, even with that pitiful attempt to hide it, I am a god of magic. But I sense others too. I have to share with more than my sorry excuse for a brother, don't I?"

Now I was frowning. This was bad, really bad. "I know who you are Loki. I know of your ancestry. Meaning this will hurt you more than it hurts me. Circe, flamethrower!"

Circe opens her mouth, a jet of teal flames shooting out toward my mate. My heart clenched at the idea of hurting him, it went against every instinct in the book. But he had hurt others and would hurt more if he wasn't stopped.

When the flames died, I stood in shock at the fact he was unhurt. "Your flames, while irritating, are not hot enough to hurt me, darling." I felt my resolve dissolve some at the pet name. I saw the last of the crowd runoff as police set up a perimeter in the distance. "Now it's my turn."

He sent a bolt of arctic blue energy at me, I was too stunned to react. Ayda!! I watched as Circe jumped in front of me blocking the attack. I screamed as pain filled both of us. I collapsed to the ground in agony. I saw the super-soldier drop from above and heard the plane arrive nearby. I felt as my mental shield come down and the full impact of more than one bond slam into me, as my vision went dark.

(Steve POV)
When I landed in front of Ayda's unconscious form I felt my soulmark flare to life. The intense need to protect her burned any sort of witty comeback from my mind. Loki looked shocked. He quickly schooled his features and looked into my eyes. "The soldier. A man out of time."

I scowled, "The only one out of time is you." I looked back for a second at Ayda. Her body was curled on the ground, her small friend lay not too far away. I was barely able to see the gentle movement of her chest up and down as she breathed.

Loki scowled at me, "So it would seem you are fated to be with the daughter of Hecate as well."

"Daughter of Hecate? What does that mean?" He had no time to answer. Natasha pulled the Quinjet up and aimed its weapons at the otherworldly being.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." I can just see her face from the ground. It's twisted in concentration and a small amount of pain.

Loki's face tightened in anger. He directed the end of his staff at the plane. A stream of blue power flew out toward the jet. Natasha barely had time to dodge. As he's distracted, I throw my shield at him. He easily knocks it to the side. Grabbing it out of the air, I jump toward him again. He knocks me back down again. I land a few feet from where lay Ayda unconscious, on my knees. I feel the end of his staff pressed to the top of my head.

"Kneel."

Outrage fills me. He hurt the one person who was supposed to complete me, the one person who was supposed to understand me. He hurt my mate, and he was going to pay. "Not today." I lunge at him and we continue to battle.

Inside the Quinjet
(Natasha's POV)

I watch the Cap fight with Loki below. There is no clear line of sight as they exchange blows. The small book-shaped mark on my left thigh burns with a new intensity as I hover above the scene.  My eyes find Ayda on the ground. Her familiar, Circe I think, has woken up and bats at her face with a small paw. Is it shaped like a Pokémon now? I'll have to ask about that later.

"This guy's all over the place." Concern clutches my heart as Ayda still refuses to wake. Suddenly, AC/DC starts blaring through the loudspeakers on the jet. A voice comes through on the coms making a small grin appear on my face. "Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?"

Tony Stark has arrived.
_________________________
Guten Tag! I hope your holidays were merry and bright! This chapter is a little different since it skips through a couple different perspectives. The cliffhanger is on purpose. And don't worry Ayda is okay. I'm sorry if the action scene sucks as well. I'm not very good at writing those, even with the movie scenes right in front of me. The next chapter might come out sooner rather than later seeing as I know what I want from the next couple of scenes.

And yes, Circe can take on any form, including fantasy animals, but more on that later.

Auf Wiedersehen