I am soooooo sorry I haven't updated in ages! Seriously, I feel so bad, please don't have forgotten about me! :(
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This chapter is quite psychology heavy, I apologize.
You'd think it having been two odd weeks that this chapter would be amazing...well, it's not really, I'm sorry.
Katie was laying on the sofa, wearing the shirt Loki had been the day before and her underwear. No one was here, they'd left her for the day so here she lay, scrolling through Facebook idly. Thor had asked Tony whether he and the others would team up with them if they went against Odin. Tony had enthusiastically agreed, and today had taken the brothers downstairs to the other floors to work on some project that would help them. It was all very secretive and she had just let them get on with it. Pepper had work to attend to as usual, leaving Katie alone. She didn't mind so much, it'd been a hectic time and was happy to just relax.
She was absentmindedly eating a packet of crisps when the lift sounded, and the doors slid open. She didn't look up, expecting it to be one, or all, of the guys. When the new arrival didn't say anything, she glanced up and froze. Nick Fury flanked by Natasha and Clint walked in and gave her a forced smile.
"I assume you're Katherine?" Fury asked his hands clasped behind his back. She looked from him to the two agents either side of him. She met Fury's one-eyed gaze again.
"Yeah." she answered casually, popping another crisp in her mouth. She could tell Fury was trying to be patient as he took a deep breath. The trio walked further into the room and Katie switched her gaze back to the tablet in front of her, trying to feign indifference.
"Where are Stark and the others?" he asked her standing at the end of the sofa. She looked up and swallowed her mouthful, her heart beating erratically.
"In one of the labs, why?" she asked, holding the pack out to Fury, he turned down her offer with a shake of his head.
"Where is Loki?" he asked, ignoring her question.
"With Tony." she replied. He took another deep breath and looked around. Natasha and Clint were yet to say anything, but she wasn't surprised, they avoided talking to her at all costs. Fury stared her down and she looked back evenly, waiting.
"We need to take you in for some tests." he told her eventually. Katie smiled slightly before swiping her finger up the tablet again, pretending to be engrossed.
"I don't think that'll happen." she answered, her eyes never leaving the screen. Her heart was beating a little faster. What if they took her in by force? Was that why S.H.I.E.L.D's best agents were here? Fury actually smiled.
"And why is that?" he asked her. She looked up at him again.
"Loki won't let you take me." she told him, narrowing her eyes slightly. Fury raised an eyebrow.
"Is that a threat?" he asked, cocking his head. She shook her head, looking back at the screen.
"Oh, no. Jarvis?" she called out, looking at the ceiling.
"Yes, Princess Katherine?" The A.I's voice echoed slightly around the room.
"Tell Tony that Fury is here and they need to come back up please." she ordered the voice, still looking at the ceiling.
"Certainly." he replied. Fury watched her as she resumed her activities on the tablet. She looked up at the three of them and nodded to the sofas.
"Have a seat, they may be a while." she told them, the authority in her voice surprising her. Fury raised an eyebrow but sat down opposite her none the less. The others remained standing and she eyed them cautiously.
After what seemed like the longest awkward silence she'd endured, the lift sounded and the doors slid open, Loki stormed out first, looking around, his green eyes wild. Katie looked up and noticed he relaxed when he spotted her. He narrowed his eyes and waved a hand as he walked over to her, her black jeans appeared on her legs. She smiled up at him and sat herself up. He sat next to her, pulling her onto his lap, arms wrapped protectively around her as he glowered at Fury over her head. She adjusted herself, having been crushed against him in an uncomfortable position as Tony and Thor strode over.
"Fury, what a pleasure to have your company two days in a row." Tony said sarcastically as he threw himself on the sofa beside Loki. Thor looked warily between Loki and Fury before he sat himself gingerly on the sofa.
"We need to run some tests on Miss Katherine." Fury said not backing down from the staring contest Loki had started. Katie threw up her left hand, which narrowly missed smacking Tony in the face.
"Mrs. Or princess, you know, I'm okay with that as well." She said wiggled her fingers so the ring shone in the light. Loki dropped his gaze to her hand and smirked, before looking back at Fury.
"What kind of tests?" he asked, keeping Katie pressed against him, ignoring her shifting and slight wincing. This was the one man he really didn't want anywhere near her. Fury huffed an over dramatic sigh.
"Psychological tests, we also need to get a blood sample, finger prints and history." he told them calmly as the others all looked at each other nervously or with dislike. Katie couldn't see what was happening but she could feel the tension, and her stomach dropped when she heard 'blood sample'.
"You can fuck right off if you think you're coming anywhere near me with a fucking needle!" she cried, her heart race increasing and she was working herself up into a panic. Loki smoothed her hair as she tried to turn round. He allowed her to twist round to glare at Fury. Loki grinned smugly at him.
"Well, that settles it then." he said with a disarming grin. Fury switched his gaze from looking exasperatedly at Katie to looking warningly at Loki.
"Does it?" he asked, narrowing his one eye threateningly. Loki chuckled as he stood up, letting Katie slide down till she was standing, his arm still wrapped possessively around her.
"There's no way you're taking her if she does not wish to go. You may bring your tests here if you so desperately need to do them, but, ah, no needles." he smiled dangerously at Fury who sighed, and stood up, squaring up to him slightly. Katie looked worriedly between the two.
"We'll be back soon then." Fury told him, looking down at Katie before sweeping from the room, Natasha and Clint following. They watched them leave silently.
"Why are they acting as if I'm some sort of criminal?" Katie whined miserably. Loki looked down at her and grinned.
"I'm afraid that's what happens when you're associated with me." he told her, releasing his hold on her. Tony sighed and stood up, clapping Loki on the shoulder.
"Come on, let's get back to work." he said heading for the lift, Thor followed him awkwardly. Loki kissed Katie's forehead and followed them as well. Katie stood alone sadly as she watched them leave.
The doors to the lift slid open and the three men looked at Fury, Clint and Natasha who had made themselves very much at home, sipping drinks and lounging around. Loki scanned the room and found no sign of Katie.
"Where is she?" he demanded, storming into the room, Thor and Tony close at his heels. Fury looked up amusedly.
"With the psychiatrist." he answered, taking a sip of his drink. Tony visibly relaxed and seated himself down. Thor moved next to his brother, the two of them looking at Fury with matching expressions of confusion.
"What is this psychiatrist you speak of?" Thor asked, brow furrowed.
"A person that is trained to assess the mental health of a person." Tony answered "She'll be fine, sit down, we'll wait it out." he told the gods, gesturing to the sofas. Thor moved slowly to seat himself down whilst Loki sighed irately and walked to look out of the window. He didn't understand why all this was necessary. Well, he did. He wasn't stupid. They thought that the two of them were planning something, that they were going to need to know how best to extract information from her. His stomach lurched. What if they were torturing her now? They tortured him. He rubbed his face agitatedly, she'd already suffered for being his ally, why couldn't people just leave her alone? They had more pressing matters to attend to. He was so lost in thought he jumped when he realized Tony was standing next to him.
"They think she's a threat." Tony told him quietly, also looking out at the city. Loki looked him up and down before looking out again.
"She will be when we're finished with her." he smiled, Tony chuckled.
"Well, I hope so anyway. Reckon she'll do it?" he asked, looking back at the group to make sure they weren't listening. Loki's smile widened to a grin.
"She'll have to. She won't let us leave her here, she'll want to help. The only way she can help is if we train her." he muttered back.
"How long do you think she'll need?" Tony asked, he'd seen her attack the guards, there was no denying she had a fire in her, but could they hone that and turn her into someone deadly? Loki shrugged.
"I don't know. I believe she will try her best though, it just depends whether she has what it takes." he replied. He so hoped she did. The things they could do if he didn't have to worry about her all the time…he shuddered with excitement. One step at a time he told himself. They were silent for a while, watching the inhabitants of New York go about their daily business.
"What are they doing with her in there?" Loki asked angrily, breaking the silence between them. They'd been waiting a good half hour. Tony shrugged.
"These things take a while, I assume they'll do every test possible." Tony said bitterly, finishing his drink.
Katie had her head on the table. The psychiatrist looked at her sadly and sighed, still holding up a card.
"Please just tell me what you see." the woman said gently. Katie lifted her head up an inch and let it drop onto the table again.
"No. I'm sick of these fucking cards." she growled into the table. She was initially okay with doing all these tests, as she was genuinely interested in what they'd reveal about her. Now however, she was contemplating shoving the ridiculously big pile of cards down the smug bitches' throat.
"What is it that annoys you so about them?" the woman asked, placing the card gently on the table as if it was a sacred relic. Katie sighed and threw herself back in the chair.
"Oh, maybe the fact you've been showing these to me for the past hour? Asking the same stupid questions each fucking time?" she replied sarcastically, messing her hair up further, sighing angrily. The woman cocked her head and looked at her sympathetically. Wait for it… Katie thought as she met the woman's gaze.
"And how does that make you feel?" she asked her, her voice the same forced, polite and caring one all councilors had. There we go. Katie thought as her blood boiled.
"Like I'm gonna shove those fucking cards in every available orifice you have." she replied, mimicking her voice as she leant forward on the table, clasping her hands on the desk. The woman sighed and made a note on her clipboard, before holding up the card again.
"Just try, we're nearly through with them. What do you see?" she said staring at her pointedly.
"A chainsaw wielding dragon wearing a necklace made of children's head slaying rabbits." Katie answered, pursing her lips. "It's some fucking black swirls." she growled. The woman sighed and placed the card on the pile.
Katie finally emerged looking exhausted, her curly hair was in disarray from constantly being on the verge of tearing it out. The psychiatrist followed her out, looking equally drained. The trio of SHIELD agents stood expectantly.
"Well, we'll call you with the results, Katherine." Fury smiled at her as he inclined his head to her. She stared back, looking like she'd slightly lost the will to live. Loki had walked over to her and stood next to her, watching her cautiously. Fury swept away, Clint and Natasha at his heels. The four of them got into the lift. Fury stared her down threateningly as the doors shut on them.
"Get me a drink." She said tiredly. Tony strode over to the bar and looked at the selection of drinks.
"What do you want?" he called out to her as she turned and sighed, shaking her head at Loki as she snuggled against him.
"Something strong." she replied, before burying her face against Loki's chest. "Can't we just kill them all?" she muttered to him. He laughed.
"What, all of SHIELD?" he asked her as he wrapped his arms around her. She giggled and shook her head.
"No, just anyone against us." she told him sadly. He chuckled and took the drink from Tony's outstretched hand and let her have a sip before vanishing it. She stared him down, wondering what exactly was going on.
"We have a surprise for you, and you need to be completely sober for it." he told her with a wicked grin. She narrowed her eyes at him, giving Tony and Thor equally suspicious looks as they too grinned at her. Loki entwined their hands and dragged her to the lift in one smooth motion.
"What is going on?" she asked, the men around her unnervingly quiet. Loki smirked and squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"You'll see, it's a good surprise, I promise." he told her, Tony and Thor smiled down at her, they were clearly excited to see her reaction. They were very proud of whatever the surprise was.
"But I hate surprises!" Katie whined, she'd rather they just told her what it is, she'd probably be excited instead of cautious as she was right now. Loki rolled his eyes as the lift opened and they strode down the corridor. They stopped in front of a pair of large metal double doors, Tony entered a code into a panel as Loki conjured a piece of black cloth, which he wrapped round her head.
"What are you doing?" she yelled, trying to rip it off her eyes as he tied it tightly. She heard the doors open.
"I told you it's a surprise." Loki muttered into her ear as his arm knocked the back of her knees so she fell into his arms. He lifted her up and carried her down the stairs.
"Seriously Loki, I…I'm really not cool with this." she stuttered quietly. He laughed, his cool breath swept across her cheek before he kissed her forehead. She heard more beeping as yet another code was punched into a pad. Loki put her down, leading her by the hand into a room which, judging by their echoing footsteps, was huge.
"Before I let you see where we are, I think I need to explain it." Loki started, standing behind her, stroking her hip as he rested his cheek against the side of her head.
"You are all for going against Odin, yet you would be less than useless in a fight." she opened her mouth to retort, but he pressed a long finger against her lips "Which is to be expected, you've never had a reason to fight in your short little life. And I know that you will want to help us, and would never let yourself be left in safety, so we created this place, in the hope we could train you to actually be of some use." He finished, taking the blindfold off her. She blinked in the light until her eyes adjusted and she took in the room. It was terrifyingly big. There was a vast amount of gym equipment, most of which she had never seen before, in one corner, a collection of human shaped dummies, arranged in a seemingly random order, numbers painted on their chests, in the center of the room. It seemed a little empty, was there not a smaller room they could have used?
"Jesus." she whispered as she took a step forward and looked around again. She looked at the three men, who all looked very smug. Loki waved his hands and a black velvet box, slightly bigger than a CD case appeared in his hands. She looked down at it and pursed her lips. Not a gift.
"Due to your genetics, you are weak and easily damaged, not your fault, you didn't ask to be born human, but this will conquer that issue." he said, opening the box and pulling out a gold necklace. It was a snake, the head of which was the clasp, which fitted with the tail. The eyes were emeralds and diamonds made the pattern of the snake's skin. It was unbelievably beautiful. He put it around her neck and she suddenly felt a rush of warmth.
"It's filled with magic, basically, you cannot be hurt by minor things." Loki explained, a knife materializing in his hand. Before she could fully register it, he stabbed her side. She yelped, but surprisingly, only felt a warm sensation as she healed around the knife, watching with rapt interest and mild horror as her skin pushed it out of her. She looked up at Loki, her mouth hanging open. He was grinning at her.
"It's very impressive actually." Tony grinned. Loki waved his hand at them and they retreated without a word. Katie frowned as she watched them leave.
"Well, let's get started." he grinned, another knife appearing in his hand, which he handed to her. She looked down at it then at him. He pointed to the dummies and she rolled her eyes. She figured out what to do with it.
"Are we starting now?" she asked incredulously, his grin widened.
"No time like the present my little mortal." he told her.
The knife lodged itself in the wall with a dull thud.
It clattered to the floor loudly.
It bounced off the dummy, then fell to the floor.
It flew sideways across the room and collided noisily with some sort of weight machine.
Each time she missed her target Loki would get angrier and angrier. He'd already destroyed one of the dummies. Katie was starting to get scared. He'd gone from patiently showing her and allowing her a couple of mistakes, but now he was like a drill sergeant, and the angrier he got, the more scared she got, hence the worse she got at hitting the target.
"Do it again, and do. Not. Fuck. Up." Loki growled to her. She snatched the knife out of his hand and he narrowed his eyes at her as she frowned at him. He'd been spending far too much time with Tony. She took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. Her hand was shaking slightly.
"You think you're going to hit a target whilst shaking like a leaf?" he yelled at her. She kept her gaze forward, her grip on the knife tightening.
"Shut up, Loki." she growled, trying to concentrate. He span her around and snarled at her. She recoiled a little.
"I'm doing you a favor you useless little harlot! Do you think this is my idea of fun?" he shouted at her, she blinked away any emotion. He ran a hand through his hair agitatedly.
"You're worse than I thought you could possibly be. Useless. Dangerously bad. Absolutely pathetic." he spat out to her, growling. Katie was shaking more now, but out of anger. She would prove him wrong, she'd do it. She span around and threw the knife in anger. Her chest heaving as she looked at where the knife had landed. Loki looked down at her.
"What were you expecting?" he sneered at her, watching disappointment wash over her. The knife hung lamely out of the wall. "Life isn't like those films you are so fond of." he told her with malice as she stared at the knife. Loki looked out at the sky, which was completely dark, save for the orange glow of the cities lights. He grabbed her arm and swung her around, letting go of her when she was facing the door.
"I've had enough of watching you fail miserably for one day." he growled at her, pushing her forward as she dragged herself along dejectedly.
The days of the weeks that followed were pretty much the same. Katie found that if she performed particularly well, Loki would reward her that night by satisfying her straight away, as many times as he could. If she wasn't her best, he was rough, and teased her relentlessly, giving Katie her release almost reluctantly. If she failed miserably, he took what he wanted from her, whether she wanted to or not, and took no care over her needs. Those nights he'd pull her against him and say:
"Maybe you will actually try tomorrow, hmm?"
She was definitely improving, she found his methods of punishing or rewarding her very effective. They'd moved onto moving targets now, which explained the reason the room was so big. Loki produced many illusions of people, who were all trying to attack her, she would have to slay them all, in any way she could, and avoid getting hurt. She was pretty good at this, she loved the ability to go crazy and be as ruthless as she liked. He told her that they were going to move onto moving targets and moving allies soon. She'd mastered still targets and allies. Loki was very meticulous in his methods. They would only move onto the next stage when she could practically do the stage they were on in her sleep.
The day started at 6 in the morning, with a workout that nearly killed her, led by Thor, the majority of the day was spent learning how to fight with Loki, and over dinner Tony and the brothers would talk about how they were going to actually carry out the revolt, talking Katie through the points she was unsure of, explaining any terminology she didn't know. She was surprised she had the energy to partake in what she'd termed Loki's Sexual Conditioning. She now knew how it felt to be one of Skinner's rats.
Loki watched her with a slight sense of pride as she hacked her way through the illusions which were all dressed in the typical Asgardian warrior's uniform. They'd explained the night before where all the weaknesses were in the armor and surprisingly she'd remembered. She was not graceful, she was no Sif, but she got the job done, and seemed to enjoy it far too much. Looking at the mad, dangerous glint in her grey eyes as she spun around the warriors, slashing and stabbing them, he realized just how well Heimdall had done in the choosing of his mortal wife. He'd have to thank him when they returned. One of the illusions "killed" her and they all vanished. She sighed irately, ruffling her mass of curls furiously.
"What exactly happened there?" he called out to her, making sure his voice didn't betray how he was actually proud of her. She glared at him, throwing the knife on the floor.
"I don't know, I think I got too relaxed." She huffed. She was so critical of herself when she thought she'd performed badly, which only made her learn faster. He rarely told her what she'd done well, and when he did, it was only at exceptional moments, which he played down. He shook his head and clucked his tongue.
"That's the one thing I told you to always remember. How difficult is that to remember? Always be alert." He told her, his voice like ice. She'd mouthed the words with him and sighed.
"Yes I know, I know. 'Don't underestimate your enemy' I get it." She moaned. He raised his eyebrow at her.
"Then why do you not show that you know it? Try again, go." he said, creating the illusions before she had a chance to react or arm herself. She swept down, grabbed the knife, whilst knocking one of them out. He watched her duck, dive, stab and kick the creations, which once slayed fell to the ground and disappeared with a golden glow.
They sat leaning against the wall, eating a lunch Tony had dropped down to them before heading off out. Katie picked at the sandwich thoughtfully, as Loki watched her. She must have dropped at least two dress sizes, and she wasn't big to begin with, and she'd become lean, not overly so, but there was a definite shape to her arms. She dropped them into her lap and looked at him.
"Did any of you hear back from Fury?" she asked a slight frown gracing her lips. Loki nodded, furrowing his brow.
"Yes, I was meant to ask you about this, Tony said they have diagnosed you with mild APD, I have no idea what that means, and he just shrugged it off…does that mean anything to you?" he asked her, giving her a questioning look as she grinned and then started laughing.
"APD is antisocial personality disorder, it's the new more socially accepted term for a psychopath or sociopath, they've sort of combined the two. I don't suppose they gave a subtype did they?" she managed to say through occasional giggles.
"Malevolent." He replied, his eyes slightly wide. "So…you're a psychopath?" he asked, stunned. She shrugged, chewing a mouthful of sandwich and swallowing.
"I guess so, I'm not sure what the malevolent one is, I assume it's something to do with being generally a nasty person, we'll have to Google it." She said lightly, taking another bite of her lunch, still smiling.
"How do you know all this?" he asked her, giving her his undivided attention. She smirked and swallowed.
"I did psychology at school. Abnormal psychology was always my favorite topic. That and anything Freud of course, always a good laugh." She explained. He looked back at his lunch, thoughtfully. He couldn't imagine her at school, or in any form of institution. He assumed she was not the easiest of students.
"Has Tony asked his pals about helping us?" She asked, jerking him out of his thoughts. A smile spread slowly across his angular features.
"Well, I believe tonight is the night." He told her, she frowned in confusion "They are joining us for dinner tonight."
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