https://youtu.be/A7nUmJWLvNA

Apparently this Drabble and character are sponsored by Billie Eilish
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Loki and Shelby stood across from each other in the middle of Thor's training room. Shelby looked extremely determined- her hair was pulled back and she looked poised, ready to leap into action. Loki looked serious and stern, his eyes narrowed shrewdly. Next to him was a fresh practice dummy, free of scars from Thor's training sessions.

"Are you ready?" Loki asked.

"I was born ready." Shelby muttered.

"Very well." Loki stated. "Summon a weapon."

Shelby didn't even have to move. From off the wall, a knife flew off and pierced the dummy in the side. Right after, an axe hit it in the chest. Then a spinning sword took off part of it's leg.

"Levitation." Loki commanded. On cue, the dummy shot up in the air, crashing into the ceiling, before flying around the room, slamming into wall, tables of tools and weapons, and it would have hit Loki if he hadn't side-stepped it.

"Finish it." Loki directed. Shelby nodded, and after a few moments of intense concentration, the dummy burst at the seams, falling apart, fraying, and shredding itself as the ruined pieces fell to the floor.

"Impressive." Loki nodded, before he summoned a knife into his own hand, and lunged at Shelby. Shelby countered with her own materialized weapon- a double bladed battle axe. Loki backed off as soon as she succeeded in blocking his blow, and still branded his dagger threateningly. "Hide."

And with that, Shelby disappeared in thin air. Loki could only hear the slightest shuffle of footsteps, and when he reached forward to where she had once stood, she was no longer there. She was nowhere within Loki's reach either; in fact, as Loki looked around the training room, he legitimately had no idea where Shelby was.

His dagger disappeared from his grip as he stood erect, smiling slightly. "I think it's safe to say your study of Asgardian Magic has paid off tremendously."

Shelby reappeared sitting on the table behind Loki, leaned back and smiling. "I'd hope so. I only started reading your spell book a year ago."

Loki turned to face her. "Has it really been that long?"

"Eh, give or take a couple weeks, but yeah. We met about a year ago, and shortly after I convinced you to let me give magic a shot." She pushed herself off the table. "Maybe one day I'll be good enough to qualify as an Avenger." She joked.

"I don't need you to be an Avenger, I just need you to be able to defend yourself." Loki stated.

"Well, we knew I could do that already." Shelby huffed, taking her hair out of her ponytail and letting it fall against her back. "I protected myself and Askel from those blue goblin warlocks."

"The Winter Warlocks." Loki corrected. "And hardly. You ended up cowering under a table with an arrow in your calf, if I'm not mistaken."

"iF i'M nOt MiStAkEn." Shelby mocked, rolling her eyes. "You know, of all the things we talked about that night, we never, uh," she cleared her throat awkwardly, "we never really talked about the Warlocks. What did you even do to make them come to Earth twice?"

Loki pursed his lips. "You know, I'm trying to take a new lead and be a good guy now. So let's not revisit a really bad mistake from my past, shall we?"

"Okay, okay..." Shelby sighed. "If we can't talk your mistakes, can you at least give me the next book. I want to start right away."

"Ah, yes. Anything for you, Shelby, Michaelson." Loki bowed sarcastically, before holding out his hand. In it, a large, leather-bound book appeared.

"Why thank you, Loki, Odinson." Shelby giggled, taking the book. "Hopefully this one doesn't take me a year."

Loki opened his mouth to say something, before the door burst open, and Thor rushed in. "Brother-" He paused, looking around his destroyed training room. "I see you two have been busy."

"What is it, Thor?" Loki asked, turning to him in slight irritation.

"It's the Warlocks of Winter." Thor stated. "They've come and invaded Oslo, demanding the real Loki be sacrificed to them, or the people of Earth will be massacred."

Loki sucked in a deep breath, clasping his hands together and nodding. "All right, sounds fun. Let's kill them." Loki turned and pointed at Shelby. "You. You're staying here."

Shelby glared. "Can't you at least take me home?"

"No, no time, we have to go now. You'll be perfectly safe in the castle." Thor directed. "Come, brother. We have absolutely no time to waste."

Loki walked backwards to Thor as he stayed facing Shelby, pointing sternly at her. "Don't get into trouble while I'm gone."

"No promises." She smiled.

He sighed as he took Thor's hand. "I know." And with that, Loki teleported he and Thor to Oslo, leaving Shelby in the castle.

The first thought in her mind was 'Okay, I'll just go sit in my room and start the next magic book until they get back.' But as she left the training room and began wandering the halls, she realized that she didn't really know her way around the castle.

"Excuse me?" A male voice called behind her, and she turned to see a boy who appeared a couple years older than her approaching. Of course, being he was an Asgardian, he was likely thousands of years older than her. He was dressed the typical castle attendant wear she had become familiar with, and had long, strawberry blond hair pulled back in a high ponytail. His skin was a pale with a very pink undertone, and as he got closer, Shelby could see that his eyes were a beautiful ocean blue. She could see that his entire left arm was covered in a sleeve of black tattoos, drawn in intricate, triangular patterns. "Excuse me, do you know where the prince went? The king is looking for him."

"Loki? Oh, Thor already found him. They're in Oslo, fighting those warlock guys." Shelby explained.

The man nodded, before looking Shelby up and down for a moment. Then, his eyes widened in realization. "Oh! You're Lady Shelby." He exclaimed, dropping to one knee and bowing. "My apologies ma'am, I didn't realize-"

Shelby face flushed as she shook her head, taking a step back. "Please, it's not a big deal. And it's just Shelby, if you don't mind."

The man stood, nodding. "Shelby. Got it. I'm Ger."

"Ger? Okay, that should be easy to remember." Shelby smiled. "I hate to bother you, Ger, but do you mind telling me where I could find my room? I'm not too used to the castle yet."

"Oh, of course, it would be my pleasure." Ger smiled. "In fact, I'll take you there myself. Follow me." He directed, and began walking down the hall.

Shelby followed, eyeing the crackling torches on the walls as they made their way down the dim hallway.

"So," Ger spoke, "you're close with Prince Loki, yes?"

"Yeah, he's pretty much my best friend." Shelby explained, looking to her feet. "We spend almost every day together. At least for a little bit. He helps me study for school and helps me practice my magic. In turn, I'm basically his human diplomat, helping him prove to the Avengers that he's not a villain anymore."

"Ah, so you do have a purpose." Ger muttered.

Shelby looked at him in confusion. "A purpose?"

"Yes. Everyone has a purpose in life, Shelby. And for Loki, it's extremely important that everyone's purpose benefit him in some way. If they don't... Then he doesn't need them." Ger explained.

Shelby eyed Ger for a moment. "You think he's selfish."

Ger raised a brow. "He's not?"

"Well, I call fighting to protect the people of Oslo pretty selfless." Shelby stated defiantly.

"It helps the very image he has you around to argue for." Ger shrugged. "The benefits outweigh the risk, so he's there, fighting like a hero. The people of Earth will take notice. The Avengers will take notice. He'll be accepted... And then what is your purpose?"

Shelby paused. "His friend."

Ger smiled. "You're cute. Innocent. Naïve. Let me show you the truth before you get involved in something you'll come to regret."

Shelby stopped as Ger turned to the wall and placed a hand on the brick, pushing it into the wall. The bricks shifted and stirred, revealing a small doorway with marble stairs leading down. Ger began down the steps, and Shelby followed reluctantly.

"Looks like the Asgardians have been busy making this castle their home." Ger said allowed as they reached the bottom. He smiled at Shelby as she eyed them suspiciously. "I can tell by the way you hold yourself that you're intelligent. Put two and two together yet?"

"You're a winter warlock." Shelby muttered. "And I just followed you into a basement that I didn't even know existed, so I can't really be that intelligent."

"Don't mistake curiosity from stupidity." Ger shook his head, before snapping his fingers. Suddenly, every torch in the long hallway was set aflame, revealing shelf after shelf of books, old and new, dusted and shining. Ger glanced at Shelby. "This is the Asgardian library. It's a place known to very few, and follows the Asgardians as they move. It's more like a state of mind than a room, really. It contains the personal history of every single Asgardian that ever lived, and luckily for us, that includes adopted Asgardians."

Ger turned to the room. "Show us Loki, son of Odin, God of Mischief."

On cue, a book flew out of the shelves and landed on the ground in front of them. When it opened holographic pictures floated in the air above the book. The starting image was a blue baby laying abandoned on an icy floor. "Show us Loki and the Ice Prince."

The pages flipped, and the hologram changed. Now it was a younger Loki and a lanky looking boy his age, who had pastel blue skin, pointed ears, platinum blonde hair, and ocean blue eyes. Both boys were smiling, but not in a happy way- in a shrewd, sly way.

"Before Loki went mad, he was just mischievous." Ger explained as he stared up at the image. "He was rather clever and rebellious, even if his parents didn't realize it. Not only did he find his way off of Asgard by himself, he found himself outside the nine realms. He found the Warlocks of Winter, on the planet Gheaţă. He met the Ice Prince."

"This sounds like a goddamn cartoon." Shelby stated, looking at the picture of the two young boys. The pages turned, and suddenly, Loki and the Ice Prince were older- young adults.

"As Loki grew older, his ambitions became more malicious. He loved his brother, don't get me wrong... But he came to realize that, no matter what his father told him, Thor was the one destined for the throne. And that was a hard pill to swallow." Ger shook his head, and the book closed, and the holograms disappeared. "Loki first sought to prove himself worthy of the throne... And when that failed, he sought to remove his brother from the picture. He had a plan... And the Ice Prince was his purpose." Ger held out his hand, and in it, a white, glowing crystal materialized and landed in his palm. "The Winter Warlocks had created an abomination of a weapon... The manufacturing of such a weapon was against the law at the time, because a weapon of biological warfare had been deemed inhumane. And for a time, Loki sought it to take out his brother."

Shelby stared at the crystal in awe, her jaw tightening nervously. "What does it do?"

"It's implanted in the target and, upon detonation, it releases a parasite. It wipes out all advanced functions of the brain. Preconceived thought. Memory. Emotion. It leaves behind only mandatory regulations and the primitive drives of all life- one of those being to kill." Ger explained. "This crystal turns it's host into a mindless killing machine, and the only way to stop it is by killing the host." Ger glanced at Shelby, who was staring at her wide-eyed. "Still think Loki wasn't that bad of a person? This crystal is the fate he intended for his brother.

"Now, the Ice Prince loved Loki dearly," Ger continued darkly, "but he knew that this... Was not right. This was far beyond anything he was willing to have a hand in. But when he refused to give Loki a crystal..." Ger scowled, tears welling up in his eyes. "Loki blew off half his face and left him to die."

Shelby stared at Ger, studying him for a moment. He had the same eyes as the Ice Prince in the book- an unique ocean blue. "You're the Ice Prince."

Ger smiled bitter-sweetly, before his disguise disappeared. Where the Asgardian servant once stood, was now a creature close to seven feet tall, with pale, pastel blue skin and long, platinum blonde hair that fell to the small of his back. Like in the hologram, his ears were long and pointed, and his fingernails were now sharp and black, like claws. The right side of his face was twisted, mutilated, and scarred, a pale pink rather than blue, and his eye on that side was grey and useless. But the color of his left eye did not change, nor did the sleeve of tattoos on his arm.

"You see? Loki tried to use me. Resistance led to pain, hurt, and betrayal. I can see he's doing the same to you." Ger whispered.

Shelby shook her head, taking a step back. "He's not like that anymore."

Ger shook his head. "He wants to you think that. He's very persuasive. Trust me, I've experienced it first hand. He sweeps you off your feet, makes you feel invincible. Makes you feel like together, you could take on the world. But he's lying to you, Shelby. He doesn't love you, or anyone. He uses people, and casts them aside when they're no longer useful." He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he bent down to Shelby's eye level. "Stop being a tool in his games, Shelby." He held out a hand. "Help me stop him."

Shelby stared at his hand for a moment, her eyes moving back and forth slightly as if she was doing calculations in her head. "But... You're just like him." She finally spoke. "You just want to me to jump one ship to another. And I don't want to be anyone's pawn, whether it's your's or Loki's." She hissed.

Ger's understanding demeanor took on a malicious intent. He raised his fist clenched around the crystal, readying to strike.

"If you lay one finger on her, I will bury this axe in your head." A voice growled, and Shelby and Ger turned to face Thor and Loki at the base of the stairs, both fresh off the battlefield and both prepared for another fight.

Ger smiled. "You're late!" He greeted, and suddenly, electricity shot up from the ground where the gods stood, paralyzing the brothers. "You know, before you two started a revolution on Sakaar, they made some pretty formidable weapons. I'm glad I snagged some of their technology before it went to shit."

"Can't- come up with- this stuff on your own?" Loki choked out between clenched teeth.

Ger's smile only got wider. "Hello, Loki. You look as dashing as ever."

"Isn't- this- you're old boyfriend?" Thor asked hoarsely.

Loki's eyes flinted to Thor. "You- knew about that?"

"I'm not- as stupid- as you think." Thor responded.

"No, but you're both as stupid as I think." Ger laughed. "At first, I wasn't sure if I'd get my hands on you, Loki. I thought you killed yourself after you're brother defeated your little coup d'état, but then you showed up on Earth. And then I thought the Avengers would end you, and then I thought the Dark Elves took care of it, and then you're sister, and then Thanos. But... You just can't stay dead, babe."

"Call it- a talent." Loki breathed.

"I'll call it annoying." Ger snapped.

"I call you dead!" Thor shouted, and his eyes glowed a bright blue, before lightning crackled around him, frying the trap he and his brother were stuck in.

Ger suddenly grabbed Shelby, materializing a knife and holding it to her throat. "I would be careful about how you proceed, my friends. Wouldn't want to make a mess."

Shelby struggled to escape his grip, but glared at Thor and Loki. "Just do it, he's batshit crazy!"

"No, my mind is finally clear." Ger growled.

Thor and Loki both hesitated, not sure how to proceed with Shelby held hostage, but Shelby knew that something had to be done. An dagger materialized in her own grip and she threw her fist back into Ger, plunging the knife into his stomach. He cried out in pain, dropping his own knife. Shelby went to push him away from her, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close again. With one forceful motion, he took his fist enveloping the crystal and shapeshifted it into a stake, driving it into Shelby's chest.

Shelby gasped, her face instantly paling. Ger smirked, pulling out his now empty hand. "Humans are so fragile. I can see why Loki is attracted to you- so easy to overpower." He growled, pushing Shelby away. She fell flat on her back, gasping for breath as she clutched her chest.

Ger didn't have time to look back up to the boys as Stormbreaker buried itself in his abandon. Ger fell to his knees as Thor marched forward, ripping the axe out and kicking Ger to the ground. "I will end you."

"No, she will." Ger smiled as blood spilled from his mouth, and with a flash, he teleported away.

Thor, still breathing heavily, turned his attention to Shelby, who was now scooped off the ground in Loki's arms. He looked panicked. "She needs a doctor. Now." He directed.

"I'll fetch a doctor." Thor stated.

Loki shook his head. "No, I need Strange. He'll know magic like this."

Thor nodded, and grabbed Loki's arm as they teleported to 177A Bleecker Street.

~~~~~

"So... let me get this straight." Tony Stark muttered as he sat in Stephen Strange's parlor. Next to him was Bruce Banner, and kitty corner was Thor and Loki. "Loki's ex-boyfriend had a big vendetta because Loki tried to kill him."

Thor nodded. "Yes."

"He's been waiting for Loki to die but because the weasel is like an 6 foot cockroach, he's decided to take it upon himself to kill Loki."

"Correct." Loki muttered.

"And to kill Loki, he implanted a crystalized parasite in Shelby's chest, which will turn her into the Winter Soldier, and- here's the icing on the cake- she's been taught magic, so it's gonna be like fighting a Bucky-Loki lovechild."

"Interesting way of describing it, but yes, essentially." Thor stated.

"Okay." Tony breathed, stretching anxiously in his seat. "Okay, you know what? This is bad, but we've dealt with worse. We can handle this."

"I mean, it's kinda bad." Bruce muttered.

"What is taking so long?" Loki finally snapped, glaring at the staircase. "They're been up there for hours."

"She did have a hole in her chest." Thor reminded him.

"As much as I like to pick on Strange, the guy knows what he's doing." Stark stated.

"I thought he didn't perform surgeries anymore." Bruce looked at Tony in confusion.

"He has another doctor up there performing the actual surgery part. He's more advising the magical-biological weapon part of the situation." Tony explained.

After that, the room fell into silent for a moment. It didn't last terribly long, however, because soon footsteps were heard on the staircase, and everyone stood as Stephen Strange and Christine Palmer entered the parlor.

"Well," Strange breathed, "do we want the good news or the bad news first?"

"Bad first." Bruce stated, and everyone nodded slightly in agreement.

"I... Couldn't remove the crystal." Strange stated.

Loki's lip curled. "Then bringing her to you was useless."

"If you would have brought her to anyone else, she'd be dead." Stephen stated in a calm voice, though there was a snarky undertone. "Every time Christine or I got close enough to remove it... It would frost over the surrounding tissue, killing it. And considering it's lodged in the mediastinum, the tissue around it is rather important."

"Is he speaking English? Or is my Allspeak faltering?" Thor asked.

"He's saying that the crystal is too close to the lungs and heart to remove it and risk killing that tissue." Bruce explained.

"The good news," Strange continued, "is that I was able to perform a containment incantation on the crystal, so even if this... Ice Prince detonates the crystal, the parasite shouldn't be released. This is will buy us some time to figure out how to get this thing out of her safely."

"You think you can do that?" Loki inquired.

"I know I can do that." Strange answered, before looking to Tony and Bruce. "I would require assistance, of course. Bruce, you have a PhD in the biology arena?"

"Yeah, a few of them, actually." Bruce nodded. "I'll help in any way I can."

"And of course, I'm the go-to guy for having stuff stuck in your chest that's too dangerous to remove." Tony smiled slightly. "Honestly, we should just throw an arc reactor in there and call it a day." When no one laughed, he rolled his eyes. "It's a joke, you guys. Honestly, I'm just trying to lighten the mood."

"Maybe we should contact Shuri as well." Bruce added.

Strange raised a brow. "T'Challa's younger sister?"

"Yeah, she's an actual genius. She's the one who rerouted Vision's neural circuits so we could remove the mind stone." Bruce stated. "She might be helpful in this."

"Agreed." Stephen nodded.

Dr. Palmer cleared her throat, looking to Loki. "While we couldn't remove the object, the surgery otherwise went well. The pleural cavity was repaired, her collapsed lung was fixed. A couple of her ribs were shattered, but we pieced them together and they should heal fine. The only post-op concern we have- medically- is her immune system attacking the crystal and causing severe inflammation by the heart and lungs. I'm prescribing an immunosuppressant until we can go back in and get the crystal out safely." She explained. "But for right now, she should be waking from anesthesia. You can go visit her if you'd like."

"Thank you." Loki nodded to her, before making his way to and up the stairs to the makeshift hospital. Laying on a cot surrounded by monitors and hooked to several IV tubings was Shelby, hair dirty and still encrusted in blood. She had thick layers of gauze wrapped around her chest, and her skin was sheen and pale.

When she heard footsteps, her eyes opened slightly. "Wow, you guys didn't kill me. I'm impressed." She said in a small voice.

Loki shook his head, smiling slightly as he sat down next to her. "No, we're going to drag you out for a little bit longer." He joked.

Shelby did not find it funny. "I don't want to hurt anyone." She whispered. "I have family. And friends. And you. If this thing is still in me..." She shook her head and closed her eyes. "Someone needs to end it."

"Stop." Loki snapped. "That's not necessary. We're going to get the crystal out of you. Strange, Stark, Banner- they are all going to figure out how to remove it. I promise."

Shelby looked at Loki with dull eyes. "Okay." She whispered, before looking back up at the ceiling. "Just, if you have anymore angry ex's I need to know about, now is a good time to warn me."

Loki met her gaze with a guilty one. "My only other partner was Sigyn... And she's been gone for centuries."

Shelby nodded slowly. "Is it true, what Ger said to me?"

Loki's brows furrowed. "What exactly did he say to you?"

"That you're only keeping me in your life because I have a purpose. And as soon as the Avengers accept you... I won't matter to you anymore." She explained sadly, though she did not have the energy to cry.

Loki shook his head, before reaching out and grabbing Shelby's hand. "No, unfortunately for you, I will not be leaving, even if Tony finds it in his will to forgive me." He stated defiantly. "So I suppose you will just have to endure me."

Shelby let out a weak chuckle. "I suppose I will then."

"I see you're up." Strange spoke, and Loki and Shelby both watched him as he approached the monitors and looked over her vitals. "I assume Loki went over how we're approaching this."

"Vaguely." Shelby muttered. "I know he said we have time to figure everything out."

"Yes. Making a long story short, I found a spell that could keep the parasite dormant, even if this warlock tries to detonate it. That'll buy us some time to figure out how to get that thing out of you. In the meantime," he tapped the different IVs hooked up to her, "you lost a lot of blood. I have O negative hooked up to you right now because I didn't know your blood type."

"A positive." She whispered.

"Okay great, that opens up our opinions. I also have you hooked up to a saline pump, morphine, and an immunosuppressant. We're gonna have to figure out a regime for you to stay on that. Do you take any other medication?"

"Metformin for PCOS." She muttered.

"Do you know the dosage?"

"Ummm... 500 twice a day I think."

"Okay, I'll work that." He said to himself, before turning to Loki. "We need you downstairs. You know this weapon better than any of us."

Loki nodded, standing up. "Of course."

Strange did a small nod back, before making his way back downstairs. Loki turned to Shelby, still holding her hand as he bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead.

She rolled her eyes weakly. "I don't know why you felt the need to do that when I'm all gross like this."

Loki smiled slightly and let her hand slip away. "I will return shortly."

"Don't come back until your figure out how to get this thing out of me." She stated as he left. Shelby sighed, staring up at the ceiling again. Only in the silence did she realize how tired she still was.

And cold.