The Fates' Favorite (Loki Laufeyson)

Part 1

"The energy gauntlet should be located on the 75th floor. Remember, if you're captured, you will be responsible for your own escape." The voice on the other end of the earpiece was crisp, deep, and gruff.

"Yes, sir." I responded as I approached the back of Stark Tower, looking up at the boastfully high building.

"Hail Hydra."

"Hail Hydra." I rolled my eyes, pressing a finger to the earpiece in order to hang up. "Hail satan." I mumbled to myself as I cracked my neck.

Having grown up in Hydra, it was never any surprise that I was expected to be the perfect agent, the perfect assassin, the perfect soldier. Maybe I would've been, had I not seen their flaws. Perhaps, if I hadn't the strong conscience and voices nagging my brain at every turn, I'd truly believe in their cause.

I almost wished for it. After all, ignorance is, to some, considered bliss.

In one thought I was a mist, a dark shadow along the walls of the tower as I went up floor by floor, searching for the prototype gauntlet I had been assigned. It wasn't hard to find in this form; the difficult part would be getting it out. I waited for a second and analyzed my surroundings, seeing the gauntlet almost completely unprotected other than the see-through case surrounding it.

I knew there had to be alarms of some sort; there was no way Tony Stark would be dumb enough to leave his prized possessions out in the open.

He likely wouldn't have expected someone of my abilities to be after a stupid glove, though.

As I materialized myself once more, I quickly smashed the casing and grabbed the gauntlet. As I suspected, an alarm sounded all around, and I didn't take the time to find out what the response to it was. I pocketed the gauntlet, and as a shadow on the building floated down the windows, hitting the ground of the alley before I took off running in my normal form. I was quick to cut off cars on the street, just careful enough to avoid whatever police or SHIELD presence was going to arrive.

I made it out unscathed and took the gauntlet up to my apartment. As someone who was rather savvy in mechanical engineering, I was pretty excited to see what Stark's newest toy really was. But first I knew I had to look for a tracker, not dumb enough to believe Stark had taken any less than every precaution when it came to his toys.

It was a delicate process, searching the gauntlet for the tracker without messing up the actual mechanics of it. Any time I got a piece of Stark tech in my grips, I was always impressed by the construction, the craftsmanship of the pieces were always nothing below perfection.

Unfortunately, by the time I found the tracker I knew it was too late. In my dim witted delusion that finding it would be easy, I had confidently brought the gauntlet here. Not that the apartment had been rented for longer than a few weeks, but still- I knew I was fucked.

An hour had already passed, which meant they definitely knew where I had brought the gauntlet. I internally scolded myself for being dumb enough to take it to my apartment, but simultaneously I had no better place with the correct tools. Still, though, it was a rookie mistake. I knew that; I was trained better.

I wasn't surprised when the knocking started, hearing my neighbors begin opening their doors as what was sure to be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents sifted through each one for their thief. By the time they got to my apartment, I was already shadowed, having put the gauntlet back in my never ending pocket and creeping right passed them to check out the manpower they used.

I was surprised to see the avengers. I didn't expect them to use such brutal force towards a glove, and in all honesty, I second-guessed actually taking it to my Lead Agent. If the avengers were the ones looking for this thing, it clearly had to be more important than what I thought. I reached my alleyway and stopped, manifesting myself back to normal on accident. From what I could tell in my room, though, the gauntlet was only a shield. A ridiculously strong shield, but a shield nonetheless.