Shine Again (An Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame Story)

Chapter 19: Not Normal

Powers? This was the first that he had heard of any of the human girls having any sort of magical abilities. Why hadn't it been brought up sooner? Surely knowing these three possessed some sort of ability would've been nice to know from the get-go. Here Loki thought they had only received S.H.I.E.L.D. training and were otherwise normal humans. The worst bit was that Thor, Stark, and Banner all knew about it and chose to be silent on the matter. Sure, the girls should've spoken up about it as well, but honestly Loki wasn't mad about that. He would've hid his powers too if he had been in their shoes.

"What do you mean?" he questioned. "I was under the impression you girls were entirely ordinary humans in that regard."

Anja tilted her head just slightly, looking over at her friends in the center of the room, watching them all spar against each other. Spencer had an upper hand on Layla at the moment, which was rather unusual but since Layla had just finished a fight with Brunnhilde, it made sense. "Um, so, I guess now would be a good time to mention that Layla, Spencer, and I aren't exactly... normal."

"Well, that's inherently obvious," Loki answered, glancing at Layla and Spencer before looking back to Anja. "I need the specifics. Please."

"Layla can control the elements of nature, so like fire, water, lightning, and all that. Although she prefers fire. Spencer has mind powers, specifically manipulation and mind reading," Anja plainly stated, shrugging. "I can do lots of things, really, if I try hard enough. I can heal wounds, and cold and ice don't really affect me. I've heard what I have described as cryokinesis a couple times. It's why I didn't think Jotunheim was all that bad."

Loki looked at his girlfriend for a few moments, taking in what she had said. In some ways, it made a lot of sense. In others, not so much. Their abilities seemed fitting enough for all of them, but it was certainly strange that the three of them found each other. What were the odds of that? Loki shook the thought from his mind as Anja continued speaking.

"I suppose some background would be good. Um... Layla and I were taken in by the same foster family. When they discovered she had powers- I guess they found her burning bugs outside, spitting fire from her hands- they told the agency they'd like to take in another special child," she explained. She paused for a moment and sighed. "That's when they got me. I hadn't been in the system long after my mother died. When they took me in, I wasn't sure what to expect. I have been able to manipulate ice since I was a small child. As you can imagine... it didn't make me friends; I didn't think that would change."

Loki nodded, listening carefully. He understood that completely. He had been different from his brother and their peers his whole life too, and was an outcast because of it. Even before he found out he was Jotun and not Asgardian. He wasn't large and intimidating like Thor and the other warriors on Asgard. Using stealth, agility, smaller weapons, and the magic his mother taught him often singled him out. The only difference it seemed was that he became so good at what he did people began to fear him. He was going to assure Anja got to that level of mastery himself. Anja's voice shook him from his thoughts again.

"I was glad they had Layla already, and that by some sheer dumb luck Spencer was our neighbor, although she didn't figure out she had her abilities until we were teenagers and hers are much easier to hide, anyway," she went on, shaking her head. "I tried not to show that I had these powers to many people, so I didn't really work on learning how to use them a whole lot. My healing ability is much more controlled than the ice; it's easier to use without being noticed. I didn't truly start trying to control the ice more until I met Tony and Rhodey, and after I found out S.H.I.E.L.D. had put all three of us girls on a watch list. I was getting good there for a minute but then I... I went through a rough patch and didn't want to think about my powers anymore, even when Layla and Tony tried to get me to practice with them."