When Loki was taken by the TVA, he is forced to watch a montage of what could've been his future. In that montage, he finds out that he will fall in love with a young Midgardian woman, who he would've met a year after the Battle of New York.
And thi...
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At nighttime, Anya remains by the balcony just staring at the moon and feeling the breeze across her face.
Loki enters the balcony and walks to her side. "Unable to sleep, Miss Anastasia?"
Anya snorts. "After everything that happened, I'd be more surprised if I could." She looks at him. "You know, I told you that you can call me Anya. This whole Miss thing is getting old."
Loki chuckles. "Apologies. I've read somewhere that it is polite among humans not to call someone by their first name or moniker unless one is friends with them."
"You don't think we're friends?"
He looks at her with brief surprise.
Anya smiles a bit. "Rhodey told me you saved me."
"I didn't. I happened to be around you the moment the city dropped."
"Still. I was a bit... out of it when it happened. I'm sorry."
"No need for apologies." Loki shakes his head. "I should apologize. I invaded your mind even after telling you that no one can ever attempt to again."
She looks at him. "What did you see?"
They share a gaze. "A little girl in a pink skirt. Dancing the ballet alone." Loki furrows his brows. "She was asking for help."
Anya looks down, smiling humorlessly. "What you saw was me as child. Seven years old. I was still in the Red Room, being trained with Nat."
"What is the Red Room?"
"It's a sort of school where they train little girls into assassins. It's where Nat and I grew up." She nods at him, finding it easy to open up. "The ballet classes were just a cover up for when officials decide to inspect the school. But I rather liked it. It was my favorite class, and it wasn't even real." She chuckles.
Loki couldn't say anything, but he watches her.
Anya leans against the railing. "I've had this ability for so long, I don't even remember how I got them. I don't even know if anyone knows how I got them. But... having this," she ignites a small fire on her palm, making her face glow slightly orange from the light. "Was enough for HYDRA to buy me from the Red Room. I was sold like an animal." She clenches her fist and the fire was gone.
Loki's frown deepens. "What did they do to you?"
"They trained me. Beat me into submission. Brainwashed me until I forgot who I once was. Wanted me to be just like this other guy that they had. They wanted instant control of me using specific trigger words." She sighs. "It's why Natasha doesn't want me near any HYDRA missions. She's scared that they could just chant a few words and... I'd be lost."
He feels his chest cave in, sensing a familiar situation.
"And funnily enough, the guy they had, the one that HYDRA was training me to be... he was Steve's friend. Back in the forties. His name was Bucky, he was a soldier." She looks at Loki with a saddened expression. "On trying to find him, Nat and Steve found me too. I was working alongside Bucky."
"Working? To do what?"
"Anything that HYDRA wanted us to do. There was barely any limits." She shrugs. "Nat thought the Red Room killed me when they actually just put me to a worse place. I spent half my life being a prototype to HYDRA. They forced me to kill for them. Burn cities. I was barely a teenager." She looks down. "Still think you're the only monster in the building?"
Loki lets out a breath, taking in her past. Although, he isn't quite sure why she is telling him any of this.
"Nat and Steve saved me. I almost killed them, but they still saved me. They got me out." She gives him a small smile. "Unfortunately, they could only save one. None of us saw Bucky again, but Steve is still looking."
"How... how did you end up in the Red Room? If you don't mind me asking."
She inhales. "When I was a kid, I grew up in a good family. I had two sisters. Nat was the eldest, and Yelena was the youngest." She smiles, but it fades. "But apparently the family I grew up with wasn't real. My parents weren't actually my parents, they were Russian spies having a perfect family as a cover. Everyone knew it was fake, except for Yelena and I. When the cover was blown, us three sisters were taken to the Red Room to begin training." Anya chuckles bitterly. "I was seven. Yelena was six. Natasha was thirteen."
"Norns," Loki mutters under his breath. "Your sister, Yelena. I don't think I've seen her at the tower."
Anya chuckles sadly. "I haven't seen Yelena since the day HYDRA took me away. When the Red Room was dissolved, all the widows were scattered, but they're free. We don't really know where Yelena is, but she probably wants to live a normal life without Nat and I." Anya shrugs. "I don't blame her. She took the truth way harder than me. It's a good thing that Nat stopped the Red Room. She killed the son of a bitch who ran it." She sighs heavily. "God, I wish I was there to watch that man die."
"I could scan Agent Romanoff's mind and show you her memory, if you'd like."
Anya chuckles, even though Loki was being completely serious. Still, Loki goes along with it and smiles anyway.
Loki follows her gaze to the moon. "I'd like to offer you a chance to develop your abilities even more."
Anya snaps her head to him in surprise. "You... want to train me?"
"No. I would like to teach you." Loki softly says. "Who else would serve as a better teacher for the mystic arts? Surely not Captain Rogers."
Anya laughs, shaking her head. "Why do you want to help me?"
Loki couldn't tell her that the way they both grew up were somewhat similar. Although, Anya experienced all the hardships at a much younger age. If he was Anya, he would want someone to help him. That, and maybe his mother would do the same.
"Call it boredom."
Anys scoffs a laugh. "Fine. But only if you help Wanda, too."
Loki frowns. "You want me to help the girl who easily melted the brains of your entire team?"
"Yes."
He huffs in annoyance. "So be it, Miss Anastasia."
She winces. "And, you have to stop calling me that. It's Anya."
Loki trains his eyes on hers, and his expression goes softer. "Anya." He almost whispers.
The two of them accompanied each other that night, and basked in comfortable silence as they observe the moon.
At one point, Loki turns his head to look at her as she worships the moon with her eyes. This human went through so much pain and loss. How she manages to keep such a kind-hearted yet fierce nature is beyond Loki.
