"I knew Peggy Carter, you know." That stills the Captain's hand and allows Loki to vanish.

He reappears in less than a second, this time behind the super soldier, body flush against the man's back.

"She begged for her life." Something snaps and Loki doesn't have time to move away before a boot meets his neck.

Curious to have a mortal be able to send him stumbling back so, to have a mortal's blow actually cause pain. A laugh bubbles up and comes forth from his thin lips as something deranged, something pained. Loki deflects the shield with a flash of magic and holds his spear defensively in front of him.

The mortal does not give him time to rest or recover, blue eyes glazed, handsome face contorted with rage beneath the white and blue helm. It is gorgeous. Why did he never see it before?

The blows are quick, but Loki is quicker. The Captain grows more desperate, sloppier with every punch and every kick. A pity all the civilians have already fled the ruined Manhattan street.

"Do you know what she said, Captain? Do you want to know her last words?" He has to shout the words to make them audible over the sounds of the shield and his blasts of magic. He can tell that Steve Rogers no longer inhabits the costume as he barely manages to dodge the razor edge of the Captain's shield.

"Allow me to give you a boon, Steve Rogers and tell you just what she said to me that rainy day behind enemy lines."

/

It wasn't supposed to happen. His studies, his preparation, his magic ought to have prevented the complication, but perhaps he had spent too long lingering in the space between.

When he reappeared, the sky above him roared with thunder and rain. For a moment, Loki feared that perhaps Thor had caught up to him, but a quick look at his surroundings told him he was far, far from Asgard.

Midgard. It had to be Midgard. Where else would such curious and large metallic contraptions be present?

There was a groan, a familiar groan of death close to his feet. Loki tore his gaze from the sight of the lifeless, looming objects to the sand that he stood upon. All around him were fallen bodies. Bodies of men, expiring quicker than his eyes could blink.

There was a groan again and his gaze lowered to the body immediately before him: a woman. Her eyes are opened to mere slits, dark hair hanging damply around her pale, pale face.

Her hand, shaking with effort, grabbed at his boot.

Acknowledging her, Loki knelt and placed his hand beneath her chin, tilting it up to get a better look at the woman.

She was beautiful, even in death. Her lips were ruby red, glistening with blood as she tried to speak.

"C-Carter..." She mumbled a series of what sounded to Loki like gibberish after, but he held her throughout. It seemed shameful to not listen to her final words.

/

"'I don't want to die! Please, please help me! Please!'" Loki inwardly winces at his own falsetto and finds unpleasant humour in the mockery of Peggy's voice.

/

"Do you wish to live, mortal?" Loki knew his magic was weak from his botched escape of the pathway, but something about the woman, dying though she might have been, touched him. She was still young and her will was strong. She did not deserve to die.

Carter smiled and closed her eyes.

/

"Mortals are all the same when they die. They all fear the end so much that they would do anything for it not to happen." His words are rewarded with an uppercut. Loki can taste his own blood in his mouth.

/

She said no more, her breathing slowing. Loki had little time and he did not have enough magic within him then to disappear and return to Asgard. Heimdall could undoubtedly help him, but he did not wish for his brother and his friends to discover that he had made a mistake. It would make the teasing insufferable.

Fingers remained steady beneath her chin, Loki's gaze grew calculating.

/

"Not once did she remember you, Steve. Not once did she even think about you in her final moments—you were nothing to her." The Captain's fist connects with thin air as the true Loki appears, seated upon an overturned cab.

"Really, I don't see why you must be so emotional over a girl like that."

/

"Forgive me, daughter of Carter." Loki pulled her fully onto his lap, letting one arm settle over her slim waist. Ducking his head down to her eye level, he lowered his lips over hers, tasting the bitter tang of death in her breath.

His green eyes, narrowed, catch sight of hers hazel eyes widening in shock. He held her gaze, free hand quickly tracing out runes upon her body. She shuddered violently in his grasp as he weaved his magic around her, pulling her closer and closer.

/

"But I will say this, Steve, she did know how to kiss." A flash of green and the shield falls uselessly to the ground just inches from reaching Loki's perch.

Grinning, he lands gracefully on top of it and cocks and eyebrow.

"Too bad you never had the privilege."

/

He stood and brushed off the sand and blood from his skirt, shuddering a little as rain began to soak through the outer jacket. Running a hand over his new form, his hazel gaze drops once more to the lifeless form upon the sand.

"You deserve a better burial than this, my lady." Her voice sounded so much more pleasing without the rattle of death.

He took a step back and murmured a spell, a final token of his gratitude with the dwindling magic at his disposal.

Her rain-soaked body was instantly lit up with wild green flames, despite the storm, and slowly she started to disappear.