Loki's eyes met Natasha and Steve's as he headed down the hall to the living area, a smirk on his face at the red blush going across Natasha's face still. Wanda was heading down at the same time, hair delicately dried and pulled back out of her face, held on her head in a high ponytail. Her black high heeled boots clacked on the floors, and the noise caused Loki to halt, and turn. He smirked a bit, and gestured for her to join him as he continued to head towards the other two. He lowered his voice a bit, looking down at Wanda.

"So, are you thinking veal? Perhaps something more patriotic, for Rogers… maybe some Apple Pie and dashed dreams?" As he spoke, he grinned a bit at her hidden snickers, as she elbowed his side.

"That is not right, Loki."

"I never claimed to be 'right'. I am, after all, the 'God' of Mischief, as your history books call me…" He winked as he said that, and twirled his finger around in a circle. After a moment, there was a thump and loud swearing coming from Barton's room.

Wanda's eyes widened. "What did you do?!" she asked, worried slightly, but hiding a grin.

"He's a little tied up is all. Not to worry, m'dear."

At that, they reached Steve and Natasha, who were giving them strange looks. Wanda looked worried, and at that, checked her clothing. "Is there something wrong with my attire?" She twirled and checked out her red short sleeve dress and black leggings that she had on underneath, as Natasha shook her head.

"No, no. Sorry, it's nothing. Let's go eat." she turned, and as they began to leave, she stopped and shot Loki a look. "Untie him."

He shrugged, but maintained the grin as he waved a hand. Thuds could be heard coming from Barton's room upstairs as he got up and headed for his door.

Hurriedly, Steve ushered them all out, and they got into the elevator and headed for the car garage.

The garage was filled with various expensive vehicles, one of which Rogers used his keys to unlock. The blue paint of the car had an almost metallic look to it, and Loki took the rear right seat. Natasha took the passenger front, Steve took the keys, and Wanda took the seat next to Loki. Loki gave Rogers a glance as he started the car and used the controls to take the top down.

"Are you sure you're accustomed to vehicles produced after the 40s?" He gave Steve a skeptical look, as Steve glanced back and nodded.

"I'm a fast learner, I've been practicing."

"Oh that's reassuring-" Loki muttered, then gripped the interior as Rogers hit the gas and pulled out of the parking spot, Natasha opening the doors of the garage and pulling on sunglasses as they pulled out into the sun.

Wanda shielded her eyes, as she wasn't all that used to the sun, and blinked as a pair of stylish shades appeared on her face. She glanced over, noting that Loki had on his own pair, and was looking out at the buildings with a small smirk on his face.

She opted not to say anything, since he didn't seem the kind of person who was too into mushy gratitude.

Upon driving for about 20 minutes, they reached an area loaded with restaurants and shops. Rogers parked, giving Natasha money for the meter, then looked back at them.

"What sounds good?"

Wanda looked thoughtful, as Loki simply shrugged. He would eat just about anything. As Wanda glanced around, her eyes came upon a little hole-in-the-wall Italian eatery, and she smiled. "I have grown a fondness for pasta." she said, pointing to the place. Rogers glanced over and nodded.

"Sounds good to me!"

As they headed down the street and into the building, Loki's eyes took everything in. He noted the construction workers heading into the nearby bank building, for example, and the babies being pushed down the street in a stroller by their mum, the mum stopping next to the bank for a coffee at a little cafe while the babies napped.

His eyes went front again as they reached the eatery. A rather nice waitress, polite and kind, directed them to a table, and the four sat, and after a moment, ordered drinks and meals. As the waitress left to take the ticket to the chef, Rogers spoke up.

"I want to apologize for earlier. If we're going to be a team, we have to trust each other and spend time getting to know each other. Wanda, you're right, none of us can help you with your abilities, not like Loki can. Loki, you're right, she is not a child and should not be treated like one."

Loki let out a, "Hmmph.", but he listened intently.

"I don't know what happened with you and Thor, he's never told us much." Natasha spoke up this time, glancing at Loki. "I'm the first one who can tell you that sometimes, though, things aren't what they seem to be. Barton should have never given me a second chance. I murdered people. I murdered children, if they were the target. But I changed."

His eyes glanced over to her, his expression not changing. "Try being the son of a Frost Giant, the son of the very KING of the Frost Giants, kidnapped as an infant and permanently spelled to practically be an Asgardian, raised as an Asgardian, raised to believe you were equal to your 'brother', to find out later that no, you are not going to get the throne you've been teased with since infancy, because you are not an Asgardian. Imagine watching your brother, who you used to watch for years, annoyed as he was a bumbling, war mongering oaf who only rejoiced in war, women, and song, become primed to take that throne, even though you were his polar opposite. It may drive you to try and prove yourself… And once I attempted to fake my death, start anew on another planet, the damnable Allfather went into an Odinsleep in front of me. I took the throne to not cause a panic and to free up my idiot brother so he could help you people. But no, I didn't get to explain that, not that anyone would believe me." he muttered as he finished, taking a gulp of the soda that was brought to their table. He let out a hiss as the carbonation hit his throat, then looked over as Wanda patted his shoulder.

"I believe you. I've been misjudged many times, as something I am not." She smiled a bit, as he blinked at her.

He wanted to say he appreciated that. He wanted to say that no one had truly believed him with sincerity before. Instead, he simply nodded his head.

Steve nodded. "Well… Jane Foster changed Thor. Working with the Avengers changed Thor. Maybe it can help you to put some of your rage to rest."

Loki thought about that. It would be nice to not be so angry at the world anymore. He was annoyed with everyone, sure, but he had rage, and deep down he wanted it to stop.

Steve turned to Wanda next. "We want to help you, too… tell us how. Just tell us what you need exactly and we will-"

Wanda gave him a look. "What I need is Pietro, and you cannot return him to me." she said simply, making Steve sigh and run his fingers through his hair.

"If we could, we would… he was a good kid, in the end."

She sighed. "He was always a good kid. You didn't know him as anything more than the annoying man running circles around you and making your lives difficult, up until he helped you all defeat Ultron… I knew he was something more."

They sat in silence for a few moments, as their food was brought out to them. Loki eyed his angel hair pasta with alfredo sauce and lobster, and took a fork full, before starting to eat. Wanda poked at her ziti that was smothered in vodka sauce, as Steve started in on his spaghetti and meatballs, and Natasha took a bite of her lasagna.

They ate in silence, barely making eye contact, most of them regretting deciding to come out for this excursion, as the ground beneath them shook, and glasses tipped over.

Steve looked up, confused. "Earthquake?" he asked, as Natasha shook her head.

"No, that was too concentrated…" she said, as the ground shook harder moments later, and the bank next to the eatery began to have structural problems. Steve stood up, as a blast shook the area, sending debris and shards of building flying out.

No one had time to do anything, and moments later they were pulling themselves off the ground, as Steve assessed the situation. Before he could speak, Loki put his hands up.

"I swear, this time, it wasn't me."

Steve quickly began to assess the area for damages, Natasha spoke up.

"What happened?"

Loki thought back to the various things he had spotted before they had headed in. The mother and her babies… the construction workers in the bank…

He slapped his forehead. "Gods I really am dense sometimes." he said, as Wanda gave him a look.

"What?"

"Right as we came in here, I saw a group of people dressed as construction workers go into the bank. It didn't seem out of place, but thinking back, they had large bags with them. They're likely robbing the place.

Natasha started swearing and began making phone calls, as Steve moved towards the now-existing hole in the wall. "Let's go, someone's going to need our help."

As they left, Loki stopped at their waitress and flashed her a charming grin. "We'll take all of that to go, I think. Add it to Tony Stark's tab."

My god, he'd never tire of charging stuff to Stark's tab.

As he stepped into the street, it was chaos. People were fleeing from the bank, some of them were shot. Grabbing a broken pole from the street, he brandished it as a weapon, and headed into the fray. A few bank robbers should be pretty simple. Years ago, he'd simply use an illusion to fight, but in this case, he didn't think he'd really get hurt, to be honest. Besides, he was basically bulletproof.

He moved towards the bank, hearing the sounds of fighting. Natasha and Steve were inside, while Wanda seemed to be helping people get out. He moved near her, as she pointed.

"Most of them are being handled, but one is below, he's got more explosives. I was going after him but Steve told me to stay here and do this…"

Loki rolled his eyes. "This is good practice for you. Come with me." And with that, he started strolling towards the outer access to the bank's lower levels. Wanda's eyes got wide, as she stood for a moment, debating what she should do…

Following Loki won, and she found herself behind him, as he eyed the area, his look getting more serious. "My God… if he uses those explosives down here, the people on the street will not have a chance."

Loki simply nodded in agreement, as he came across the man. Stopping Wanda, they ducked behind a pillar, as the man worked to attach his explosives to the building. Loki waved a hand, and an illusion appeared behind the man, getting his attention. As the man started swinging, Loki's illusion dodged and just appeared to grin. From the other side, Wanda snuck behind him, and with a swish of her fingers near his head, the man soon fell unconscious.

Loki's illusion faded, and he stood, proud. "Well done." he said, as they suddenly heard it.

*Beep…beep…beep…*

The sounds of a timer. Wanda's face paled, as Loki moved over to the man. His vest was clear, but his hand… there was a remote with a button.

"Oh my God… Steve… Natasha… All these people!" Wanda panicked, as Loki lifted the man over his shoulder and waved a hand.

"I'm warning them, I've got illusions warning them. Get out!" he said, as he shoved her towards the exit. God only knew how much time there was until the device blew, and he didn't want to be there when it happened. He wasn't 100% sure what all Thor had done to him before exiling him, or if that bracelet did anything else to his body.

They reached the top, and Loki assessed the situation himself. The blast shouldn't take out the block or anything, but the people that were around, which his illusions were telling to clear out, having taken the shapes of the other Avengers, they could be hurt.

He moved Wanda out of the blast zone, as he watched Steve and Natasha leave the bank, and put the criminal on the ground. And he heard it. A wail, more like a mewl, and a woman screaming.

He turned his head, and saw the mother with her two children from before. She was stuck, her babies thrown from their stroller, crying among the rubble. He looked to Wanda. "Do NOT follow me." he said, as he ran to the coffee shop.

As he knelt, he quickly lifted the debris off the woman, and helped her up. "Can you walk?" he asked, as she nodded. He quickly helped her get the babies, and he held them to her, as he rushed her away from the blast zone.

Behind him, he heard Wanda shout and collapse to the ground, her head bleeding. The man, no, the cockroach, had a weapon raised up, the barrel of it smoking.

Loki felt his stomach wrench. She must have been watching him, and let her guard down. As Steve and Natasha watched, Loki rushed forward, his mind moving towards killing the sorry excuse of a soul in front of him. As he raised the pipe, to channel his magic into a blast, he felt the bracelet shock him, and he hit the deck. His eyes widened, as he looked down at Wanda, who was so close now, he could see the mark on her head. He couldn't tell if it was a graze, or if it was worse… He looked up to see the man's gun raised at him, as he stood, fast.

The man fired the weapon, and the building exploded in a rush of color and noise.

After that, it was chaos. Tony arrived moments later, and began to stop the building from fully collapsing on people, although large chunks of debris was now laying where Wanda, Loki, and the man had stood. They cleared the civilians, as they were always priority one, and the criminals were handed over to the police, as Tony began to clear the debris.

Lifting each chunk of the building, he worked with Steve, who was moving the smaller bits, as much as he could, until they found the man, who had been crushed to death, and was now basically soup. Steve went pale, and moved quicker, moving more and more pieces of rubble.

They heard a cough.

As they grabbed the last bit of the debris and lifted it, they revealed Loki on top of Wanda, shielding her from the weight of the debris. Her head was caked in mud and blood, and his face was smeared with her blood. They moved to help him out, as he let out a cry that turned into a frustrated laugh.

Upon further inspection, they spotted a bullet wound in his abdomen. He gave a dark, almost bitter laugh.

"I guess my brother wasn't fully honest about what that bracelet did after all." he said, before the world around him went from day to night, and he fell back to the ground in a heap next to Wanda.