PURE AND TAINTED ( wanda maximoff )

two → i'm gonna need a table

Steve hadn't said a word as he watched a table be cleared for Aline and she set up her equipment. Honestly, equipment wasn't the right word for it 一 all Aline had was an old book that looked ready to fall apart in her hands, and she had gotten the map and candles. She snapped her fingers and instantly, the candles lit up, tiny flames appearing at the candles' wicks. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Steve jump back a bit. "Relax, I'm not going to summon Satan," Aline reassured, shaking her head. She rolled her neck and hovered a hand over the map, the other tightly clutching the green gem dangling around her neck. "Vinde val tratunderes. Vinde val tratunderes." She had kept her eyes shut the whole time, slowly moving her free hand in a circular motion.

The wax that had slowly appeared from the melting candles had started to fall faster, coming together to create rivers of cream colored wax. Steve took a step closer, arms crossed over his chest. On the way to the helicarrier, he had read several files given to him, one of them being of a girl that looked a few years younger than him named Aline Ashford. Overall, she looked like a sweet girl, but her file said much worse about her. Because most of the information had been redacted, all he had gotten was that she was connected to a group called the Red Witches and a series of murders in the early nineteen-sixties. He had no idea how, seeing as the girl couldn't have been older than twenty-two. But the files had never mentioned this 一 literal magic.

Minutes passed by as Aline chanted her spell. She'd only gotten a quick glimpse of a picture of Loki, so it somewhat helped her, but it troubled her that she had literally nothing of his 一 no token that once belonged to him, not even a lock of hair. Starting from scratch was always difficult... She nearly growled in irritation.

"Think she's got something?" Agent Sinclair asked, looking over his shoulder to look at Aline.

As soon as the man spoke, it suddenly hit her. She could see Loki clear as day – black hair slicked back and his eyes red with what appeared to be sleep deprivation, dressed in formal attire and a cane in hand. She grinned to herself then stopped her chanting, looking down to see that the wax had converged to meet at a city in Germany. "Got him!" Aline shouted confidently, smiling wide. "Stuttgart, Germany. And I mean, I know he's supposed to be on the lam right now, but he's out in the open. The dude's not even trying to hide."

"Where exactly?" Fury asked.

Aline raised one of her brows, shifting to lean on one leg. "I don't know, somewhere fancy. You're a top secret government organization, surely you have access to 一 oh, I don't know 一 the street cameras? Seriously, why did you even need me for this?" She puts a hand on one of her hips.

Fury just gives her this look, one that makes Aline smirk and roll her eyes. "Find him fast," he said then looked over to Steve. "Captain, you're up."

___

Honestly, if it wasn't for Steve, that old man would've been blasted and died in a second. He had jumped up, shielding them both easily. The blue energy shot back, reflecting off the vibranium shield to knock Loki onto the ground. Loki glared heavily at Steve, watching as he simply brushed himself off and strolled forward like he owned the world.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany," Steve said, "and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

Loki stood. "The soldier 一 a man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time," Steve retorted, only to have someone laugh behind him. He didn't need to look to know it was Aline, who had followed closely behind.

"Now, now, boys," Aline said, strolling towards them with her hands in her leather jacket pockets. "Are we going to continue talking? Maybe braid each other's hair?" She rolled her neck, her dark hair moving to fall down her back.

"I've never met one of your kind before," Loki mused. He smirked at her, giving her a cat-like grin, and cocked his head. "Tell me, where did they dig you up?"

Aline's grin fell quickly. She didn't appreciate the fact that he knew what she was simply looking at her. If he could tell what she was at a simple glance, what could he tell about her in a single conversation? Though she was glad to not be able to add to it, for the Quinjet appeared her. The red haired woman that Aline had passed earlier, Natasha as she was called, spoke through the speakers. "Loki, drop the scepter and stand down."

Instead of responding to her, the god delivered a blast of blue energy towards the ship, which Natasha had managed to dodge. Steve quickly tossed his shield at Loki's chest, which appeared to bounce off almost harmlessly, and the two started to throw fists. As soon as Steve was flung to the ground, Aline raised an open hand and shouted, "Gratuit fra loke!" A satisfied smile appeared on her lips when she saw Loki suddenly shout out, clasping a hand to his head as pain spread throughout his head. He grit his teeth harshly and struggled to aim his scepter at the brunette. He fired a blast at her and she clutched her chest as it hit her, sending her against the ground.

She groaned out something incoherent, pushing herself to sit up. Despite her being the supernatural creature that she is, she could experience pain. She could feel the dark veins appear under her eyes, and for a moment, Aline was tempted to just sink her fangs into his neck and bleed him dry. But she was snapped out of her thoughts as AC/DC suddenly started to play through the Quinjet speakers. Turning around, Aline managed to see a man in a gold and red metal suit fly through the aim, sending a blast towards Loki's chest and knocking him down on his back. When the metal suited man touched down, all sorts of weaponry appeared and was aimed at the god. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."

Surprisingly, Loki held up his hands, his golden armor disappearing. Aline pushed herself up, rubbing her stomach, as she met with Steve to stand next to the billionaire. "Good move," he said.

"Mr. Stark," Steve greeted.

"Captain," Tony replied.