Few things first, I do not own any of the characters within the Marvel Universe. I do not have a beta so please excuse any errors you may come across. I might come back and edit things here and there every so often.

Sovereign

Chapter One:

"Agent Graves."

"Director."

"I want you to keep a close eye on him. If he does anything fishy, if he so much as bats an eyelash and it falls out, you let me know."

"Yes, sir."

During the first hour, Nora watched the man casually pace back and forth in the confines of his glass cage. The second hour had been much like the first but included periods of sitting on the metal bed the cell provided. After the third hour, and just when Nora was beginning to think that her assignment, as important as it was, was not going to contain anything groundbreaking, the man had glanced up at the camera and smirked. It was not a brief look, but was a long stare filled with a glint of mischief and a hint of mystery; a stare that made Nora uneasy and by the fourth hour, made her downright frustrated.

She was no psychology expert, quite the opposite really, with proficient skills in hacking and computer programming, but the field of studying the behavior of others always interested her. Nora had a few classes from college and high school under her belt, the heavy textbooks giving her a plethora of information on the subject matter, but it was simply common sense that told her the man inside the cage was hiding an ace up his sleeve. And she was starting to get an itch she wanted to scratch.

Her five years at S.H.I.E.L.D. had given her various assignments and missions, ranging from espionage to the investigation and dealings with extraordinary human beings, the latter of which was something more recent. Nora herself was nothing extraordinary, a human with a curious personality who, after required training, knew how to shoot a loaded weapon when situations called for it. She took her missions very seriously, a majority involving her hacking skills and knowledge of certain technology, and never once placed herself above an assignment, until now.

When she had first entered the observation room, a thin manilla envelope had been provided next the computer monitor. It didn't say much, as S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have ample information about their prisoner, but what Nora did read was startling. Calling himself 'Loki, of Asgard', he arrived to Earth a few nights ago through a portal created by a powerful energy source; the Tesseract. His arrival brought chaos and disorder, an entire research facility crumbling in his wake and a handful of S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists and agents had disappearing with the Asgardian before the collapse. According to a statement given by Director Fury, brainwashing was the leading component for their leaving with the demigod, the indoctrination caused by a magical scepter Loki brought with him from the other realm. The concept of magic and other dimensions was new to Nora, and to Earth. It was no surprise that S.H.I.E.L.D. was not prepared for the event that started Loki's terror.

A terror that would continue Stuttgart, Germany. Before his detainment on the helicarrier, Loki interrupted an extravagant ball with a gruesome display of taking a man's eyeball, an act that caused everyone in attendance to run hysterically out into the street. Some reports chose to include Loki's warm reception to the pandemonium and others chose to leave it out as if it would help people sleep better at night. Thankfully, S.H.I.E.L.D. and company had arrived in time to protect the crowed from further injury and quickly put Loki under arrest, the villain having apparently given himself up easily with little to no fuss. Perhaps it was better that way, with unnecessary bloodshed out of the equation. Regardless of how it happened, here he was in a thick glass cage and under Nora's scrutiny.

At first his smirk hadn't bothered Nora. She even chose to ignore it as best she could, but after a few minutes of trying, the smirk could not be ignored. It was silently goading her, teasing her with the confidence of a man who was not worried about being locked in a glass cage. There was a promise in that expression, a promise that said "something is coming."

Nora narrowed her eyes at the monitor. Her gut was churning with the desire to smack the smirk away and get some answers to what he was planning. Words that Nora vaguely remembered from her psychology classes were swimming in her head, poking her and telling her to learn what information she could about her subject of surveillance. Her mouth suddenly felt dry as the desire changed into a hunger, a need to learn why he was smirking and what his end goal was. Who was Loki of Asgard? If it was a goal of his to draw her closer to the flame, the quirk of his lips was doing a good job of just that.

Nora broke her eye contact with the monitor and pushed herself up from her seat. It was her duty to surveil and observe the man and Nora she saw no harm in getting closer. The cage was built for someone five times the physicality of Loki and she expected for her life to be safe and in no immediate danger. If Director Fury had an issue with her change of scenery, she would gladly explain herself to her superior with the hope that he understood her reasoning. At the moment, Nora didn't care about any unspoken rules she might be breaking. She was going to see the smirk face to face and learn more about who it was S.H.I.E.L.D. was dealing with.

In a few strides, Nora reached the door and exited the room. It was getting later into the night and the halls were bare, save a couple agents heading to their own destinations. Nora gave a small nod to a passing operative and started walking to the entrance of the cell's room. When she reached the security door, Nora adjusted her dark blue S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform and cleared her throat. Not many had access to this area of the helicarrier and for a split second Nora wondered if she was doing something wrong, the off chance that she was disobeying unspoken orders.

Swallowing down nervousness, Nora placed her thumb on the designated pad and lowered her head for a small monitor to scan her right eye. A light near the door flashed green and the entry opened. She steeled herself and crossed the threshold, striding down another, much smaller hallway before turning into the first opening she had.

Loki seemed to have expected her arrival. He faced her politely and if she were a betting woman, Nora would have said he looked slightly amused.

"Got tired of sitting behind a desk, did we?"

Nora gave him a sarcastic, tight lipped smile.

"Or did your delusional little mind talk you into coming down here with the expectation that you have the power of 'getting me to talk.'"

"The first one... and there's a chance the second one became involved, too." Nora said. She crossed her arms and stepped further into the room, positioning herself against the nearby railing. Loki tracked her movement and turned to face her accordingly, his eyes never leaving her face. A moment passed and the two said nothing, the heat of his stare eventually causing for Nora to look elsewhere. After a quick study of the room and a handful of seconds spent marveling at the cage's design, Nora's attention was drawn back to the man inside the glass cell.

He stood confidently, his hands clasped behind his back, and his feet shoulders length apart. He wore an ensemble of armor and cloth, dark greens mixing with blacks and metals, and Nora felt that the outfit complimented the pretentious manner at which the man carried himself. His shoulder length hair was slicked back, the ends flaring upwards in greasy pieces. The blackness of his hair contrasted against the paleness of his porcelain like skin and Nora assumed for the man to be as deadly as he was beautiful.

Suddenly self conscious of her own posture, as well as the man's own scrutiny of her, Nora straightened herself and ruffled her dark brown cropped hair, a habit that arose whenever she felt flustered, embarrassed, nervous, or all of the above. She recognized she didn't quite hold the same poise and intimidating demeanor of Director Fury but Nora liked to think that she had some amount of wit and composure that made her a force to be reckoned with.

The silence was turning stale and Nora decided it was time to break it. "How do you like your arrangements? I believe Director Fury already stated why it was originally built."

"This cage will not hold me for long." The man said, never blinking. For some reason, she did not doubt his words. The confidence Nora had seen through the monitor existed tenfold in his presence. Regardless, she decided on continuing the interaction as if she thought otherwise. At the time being, it appeared as though S.H.I.E.L.D. had the upper hand.

"We will see about that, won't we? Who knows? You may just surprise me during our time to get to know one another. Speaking of which, I'm Agent Graves."

The man smirked and crept closer to the glass. "Well, Agent Graves, let me assure you that while you will entertain me with your predictable questions about my motives, you will come no closer to receiving the answers you desire. I am not one to spoil surprises."

"I expected as much. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?" Nora knitted her brows and leaned forward slightly, "You are... Thor?"

"Thor is my brother, you simpleton. I am Loki, a far superior god." Loki sneered, looking at Nora with a frosty expression.

"You do not look very god-like within your cage, save for your exquisite attire." Nora countered, "I will call you a god when I see you do something without a magical stick."

With that, Loki had taken on a darker countenance. He was now closer to the glass than he had been upon Nora's arrival, his head lowered as he stared at Nora with a piercing gaze. Nora could only assume that by calling him anything short of a god was an insult he did not deal with very well.

"Ah, another who doubts what I am capable of." His voice started out soft but Nora was able to immediately discern the menacing tone that threaded each word. "Mark my words, when I do escape from this cell, I will come for you and show you why I will be feared. Why it is I who is a god and not you. How brave do you think you will be when your screams are all that you will hear, when pain is all that you will be able to see and feel. I will make you taste it."

Nora felt an odd sensation take over as she looked away and blinked.

"Maybe you should go back to observing in your little room."

She wasn't afraid to admit that his speech had startled her. She had not been expecting such a dramatic change in his attitude so early on in their interaction. Nora gave Loki a weighted look and tried to ignore his glare. If one thing was certain, it was his apparent disdain for humans, that much made clear after his assertive foretelling of her future. Nora's curiosity rumbled, the questions forming in her mind as well as on her tongue.

"Or maybe..." Nora walked over to a chair that sat in the corner. She picked it up and placed it in front of the glass cage, sitting down in a casual fashion with her arm draped over the back. "I should make myself more comfortable."

Loki's lips twitched. "Lovely."

"Since you have already established that I have come here to ask a few questions, I won't bother wasting your time with small talk. Whether or not you choose to answer them is fine by me but if it's all the same to you, I'm still asking."

"I'm sure it will be fascinating to watch your little mind work so hard, trying to put the pieces together. You must hope to receive some reward from what information, however minute, you might gather from this exchange. Ask away."

Having been given his blessing, however mocking it was, Nora jumped in. "From what I do know of you, you have come a great distance from Asgard to Earth, and through a portal no less. You sought the Tesseract and succeeded in retrieving it, destroying a research facility and killing good men and women in the process. What is it you want to do with the Tesseract and where is it located?"

"I do not know, as I told my brother when he asked the same predictable question."

"Fair enough. Let's move on." Should she press the issue more? "What exactly did you do to Agent Barton?"

"The same thing I am going to do to you."

Arrogance fueled him and the confidence in his words caused Nora's body to tense up. Nora's face went hot and she took a deep breath, mentally trying to rid herself of the images invading her mind. Images of herself becoming an involuntary slave to this... Loki. "I wouldn't let that happen."

"You think that you have a chance in preventing the inevitable? Think about it. A man like Agent Barton failed to stop me so what makes you believe any different? Judging by your current assignment of babysitting, I am willing to speculate that you lack the capability of doing anything half as extraordinary as him."

"You think I am weak."

Loki slowly spread his hands in front of him, "All humans are."

"You are quite the bastard. An interesting bastard but still a bastard."

"Please, your petty insult means nothing." Nora wanted to point out how mad she was able to make him when she doubted his status as a god but held her tongue. She breathed a small sigh. believing that she wasn't getting anywhere with him. As intriguing as Loki was, he was also equally infuriating. His pompous attitude continued to frustrate her to no end but her interest in him never wavered, even when he threatened her. If anything, her interest grew stronger.

Loki turned from her and walked to the steel bed, sitting himself on the edge. He leaned forward, his focus redirected back to her. "Do not tell me you have given up on your questions. I was hoping they had just begun."

"Then I won't disappoint you." Nora licked her lower lip as her mind formulated a new plan of attack on how to learn information about him. She figured he was telling the truth about not feeding her anything S.H.I.E.L.D. could use against him so she opted for safer questions. She opted for his opinion.

"What do you think of Earth?"

Loki chuckled and Nora could feel heat tinging her cheeks. "I think Earth will be very easy to rule."

"That wasn't quite what I meant." Nora rolled her eyes. "Look, I know you're not up to date on your history of the human race, but we don't really like it when one man tries to rule the world. It always ends badly."

"No human will ever be great enough to achieve power and keep it."

"That last sentence went completely over your head, didn't it." Nora ran a hand through her hair. "What's Asgard like?"

"More beautiful than every living thing on this sad attempt at a realm."

"And yet this is the planet you wish the rule?"

Loki's expression soured.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hit a sore spot."

Yes, she did.

Nora scooted the chair a little closer and repositioned herself, settling into a more dignified posture. Would she ever be able to get a decent conversation out of him that didn't involve his arrogance getting in the way? For a few minutes they said nothing, their attention on studying each other. Nora shivered when she watched his gaze travel to linger on her lips.

"Loki," She noticed him seemingly snap out of a trance as she said his name. He narrowed his eyes. "What is your relationship with your brother?"

"Thor is nothing but a buffoon," Loki sneered. Nora let the question float in the air when she perceived he had further to say on the matter. Loki contemplated the floor when he continued. "My 'brother', as you call him, is all brawn and no brain. The citizens of Asgard look to him as a savior and to me as an inferior being when it should be the other way around. My reputation is no more than a joke because of him."

"You know..." At Nora's voice, Loki's head snapped up, the expression of spite that formed when he talked of his brother still very apparent. "I have a sister who was born two years after I was and for being two years older than her, I was intuitive enough to sense that my parents treated her differently. For years I always suspected my parents of loving her more than me, that they saw something special in her that I never had. I grew up hating my sister for it, for the extra amount of love that she received over me. I grew up competing against her, trying to one up every single thing that she did. I knew I was better than her, in my head, and I was damned if I didn't prove it."

"I see what you are trying to do. If you share a similar story to my plight I might... warm up to you. It will not work."

"Or maybe I'm telling you a similar story because I might know what you're going through. If you're warming up to me because of it then that is an added bonus. May I continue?"

Loki gave Nora a short nod and stared off at something beyond her shoulder.

"One day I finally realized what I was doing wrong. She was my sister. I should not have been trying to best her but I should have been supporting her through all of those years. We both have our strengths and weaknesses and I should have focused on mine, making myself a better person. I won't be my sister and I never will be. I'm my own person and I make my own destiny."

There was silence for a minute. "Which exactly is what I'm doing."

Nora stood up and and clasped her hands behind her back. She walked forward and stopped within a foot of the glass cage. "Yes, that might be true but you're doing it in the wrong way."

"Do not tell me what to do."

"I'm not."

"Inadvertently." Loki also stood up and made his way to stand directly in front of her. "I will make myself clear one last time, redundancy becoming a problem within this cage. My qualm is no longer with my brother. I have moved on from that to much greater things. I now have the power to make Earth mine and it will be so very soon. This realm will know of my name and will bow before me."

"I get it."

"Good."

"Your brother stirred all of that within you did he?"

"No, that last monologue was in response of your pathetic story."

"I see. Is there a question I can ask that doesn't end with you telling me how great you are?"

"Am I not giving you what you want? You have come down from your little room to gather information from and about me and I am doing just that. I am greatness."

"You are egotistical."

Loki smirked and placed his forehead on the glass, his hand resting on the glass above him. "I think you like it. I have been watching you closely within these two hours and I must say, your face has gone various shades of red numerous times. Does my arrogance truly bother you?"

"Yes." Nora had the strange feeling that she gave him the answer he wanted to hear. It was the truth, she had to admit. He bothered her and attracted her at the same time. Perhaps she needed to go back to the room with the monitor in it. Loki appeared to know what Nora was thinking for he whirled around gracefully and sat back down on the bed. As usual, he looked pleased with himself.

Nora concluded they were done visiting and turned away from the cage.

"Leaving so soon?"

"It's been six hours of you being in my sight." She began walking back to the hallway. "Besides, I'm sure you need sleep. Or something. I need coffee."

"But we were just getting to know each other..."

Pure sarcasm.

Nora bit back a response.

"You will be back." He murmured.

"There's that ego again."

She could hear the smirk.

So far so good. Please read and review and tell me what you think. I am open to constructive criticism.