five
"but with heart"

The loud whirring that overcomes the heli-carrier is unlike anything Lusine had ever heard. She shot from her seat and remained calm as she glided over to the window, peering out the front with one, cold hand pressed on the glass.

The propellers begin to spin. Strong and fast, sending the water into a flurry of panic as its churned by the disturbance. The carrier begins to lift into the air, out of the reach of the ocean's clawing hands, rising from claw and tooth.

The coolness of the glass pressed against her forehead as she leaned closer, craning to look down at the ocean below.

A beautiful thing, but, from all the stories she had heard, she knew it was twice as deadly.

Lusine's ears pricked at the sound of Coulson's familiar voice and she turned from the window, eyes locking on him immediately. There were countless unfamiliar faces aboard the heli-carrier, but now there were four new ones.

Whisking an air of confidence into her step, Lusine crossed the space and slid into place beside Coulson, putting him between herself and the others.

The man with only one eye locked that solitary eye on her. "Agent Coulson, is this the woman who fell from the sky?"

"Yes," Coulson replied, gesturing to her with one hand. "This is Lusine Volkov, goddess of..."

"Princess of Wolf Moon," Lusine said, filling in the gap with a much less threatening version of her title. "It's a pleasure to be aboard this... ship?"

"Finally someone as clueless as I am," The blond man dressed in a brown leather jacket said, crossing his arms across his broad chest.

"Clueless is the wrong word. I prefer 'learning'," Lusine quipped before she could reign in her tongue. "And, may I ask who I am in the presence of?" She asked, looking to Coulson to steer the conversation on, ignoring the stare of the icy blue eyes digging into her skin.

Coulson gestured to each of the figures, naming them. "Director Fury, Steve Rodgers, Natasha Romanoff, and Doctor Bruce Banner."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Lusine said, smiling. "I'm sorry to have interrupted."

Natasha surveyed her once over and must have decided she wasn't a threat because she turned away to look at one of the computer screens tracing faces. Bruce Banner was soon escorted away to be shown his laboratory by Natasha at the Director's wish and Lusine could hear her telling him how much he was going to love it.

"Now," Director Fury turned his attention to Lusine, "why have you come to Earth?"

"I have no quarrel with Midguard, if that is your concern, Director," She replied, lacing her fingers together in front of herself, feeling the pit of her power filling with every second she stood, with every intake of breath, with every pulse of her blood. "I did not come here by choice."

His only answer was to continue looking at her, waiting for answers.

Coulson stood by, listening in out of curiosity but also out of investment to the woman he'd helped be nursed back to health.

"Loki Laufeyson betrayed my trust and pushed me into the void. I got lucky, survived and ended up here. Agent Coulson found me in the middle of nowhere, dying," She explained, knowing in her gut every word of it was the truth.

"Then you and I have an enemy in common, Volkov." She let him use her name disrespectfully, let him drag it through the dirt she'd lay in while her life slipped away like sand through an hourglass. "You might just be able to help us."

"It would be an honour to help," She said, pulling on the sheep's clothing and fastening it at her throat with a pretty, red bow. A grin to match the innocent facade of it all.

-

-

It was with that same honour that Lusine Volkov ended up on a quinjet, stood beside Captain America himself, who she had read a lot about that day, on their way to Germany where Loki had surfaced.

Unclench, clench. Her hands worked in the rhythmic pattern, each turn fingers closing tighter to the point where her chewed down nails cut into her black-lined palms.

A hand grasped onto her wrist and she froze mid-clench, snapping her eyes down to the foreign touch. They let go as soon as her hands stopped moving.

"You're nervous?" Steve asked as she turned her gaze to him, willing her eyes to remain blue. Willing them not to shift to black and strike him where he stood, to crack that jaw in half, cave in his skull, pull his teeth, drag her nails across his throat. His voice cut the roaring thoughts short as he asked another question, "Never been on a mission before."

Lusine searched his face and swallowed down the remnants of void on her tongue. "No," She managed, cursing herself for the weakness that vibrated through her voice. "I haven't." Stronger, but not like the goddess who'd charmed men to death.

"Just follow the orders and everything should go smoothly," Steve told her, the confidence outstanding.

"Follow the orders," She repeated, the words foreign at her mouth.

It was go time. Steve was ready to go. He jumped down first and Lusine followed, her ears immediately ringing from the vibrating noise from a blast of Loki's scepter bouncing off the shield.

Lusine holds out her arm, expending a little energy to conjure the familiar double-ended spear that had slain many great men. For a moment, she tested it in her palm, twisting it around and then she let herself smile, slipping into the coolness of the override.

Loki dragged himself to his feet and said, "The soldier, the man out of time." His voice was low and steady for a man who had fallen only moments before.

Even his voice sent Lusine's body into a wave of confusion. There was a part of her who wanted to send the spear through Steve and run away with Loki, but there was also the part that wanted to see all of the God of Mischief and Lies' plans burn.

The length of the dress rippling behind her, Lusine stalked through the crowd and emerged beside Steve, ardent eyes locking on the god she'd loved.

When he saw her, his mouth dropped, but he was forced to regain his composure when Steve said, "I'm not the one who's out of time."

The roar of the quinjet was loud in her ears, but the focus was undeniable. She wanted to hurt him badly, felt it in her muscles as they twitched in anticipation.

"Loki," Natasha called from the speaker of the quinjet, "drop the weapon and stand down."

His only response was to send a blast of his scepter right at her, causing the jet to swerve.

Lusine grinned. "You're not making this easy for yourself, Loki," She drawled, eyes locked on him, watching his every move. She knew him. Knew how he worked, how he liked to play with his prey.

"Easy isn't fun, darling," He crooned and swung his scepter, knocking the shield from Captain America and forcing him down. Lusine stepped back once, twice and then conjured the magic in her right hand just as he commanded Steve to kneel to him, power a roar in his voice.

"Not today!" Steve called out as he jumped up, kicking Loki square in his face.

In combination, Lusine sent her skittering white lightning after him. Loki's back arched in pain, breathing laboured from the shock to his system. Again, she brings the power crackling to her palm and sends it into him right after Steve strikes him again.

While fighting from a distance had never been her optimum, she couldn't help but find joy in it. Hearing him cry out in pain from her strikes wet her cheeks, but she smiled through it all and sent something a little extra in the final one before a flying metal man blasted Loki back.

"Make a move, Reindeer Games," The man taunted, standing over him.

Lusine let the spear dissipate, disappointed in not having to use her favourite toy. Loki let his Asgardian garb fade away and lifted his hands in surrender, eyes locked on Lusine with a sting of betrayal.

She wondered if he'd realised that that's the exact feeling she had as she was being dragged into the void by gnashing jaws, screaming her throat raw.

-

1452 words
22.4.18
why do i suddenly love steve??
Also a double update bc why not??