"Nova, want some fruit?"

"Wha-?" Nova looked up and noticed Rogers offering her an apple. "Oh, no, I'm fine. Thanks."

"Hey, you're offering her an apple and not me? I would like an apple, thank you very much." Barnes reached over and snatched it from Rogers.

Rogers sighed heavily.

Barnes took a bite. "You're very cute when you're annoyed, you know that?"

He rolled his eyes, but leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "There, happy now?"

Barnes put the apple down. "Kiss me properly."

Rogers grinned. "If you insist."

Wilson threw a banana at them. "No making out while we eat. You're going to ruin my appetite."

For once, Loki agreed with him. Seriously, why did so many of the Avengers have partners? Stark had a wife and a child, Maximoff was dating Vision, even the Guardians of the Galaxy were dating each other. He was pretty sure that Thor was dating that Marvel girl, or at least harbored feelings for her. Even Valkyrie had a girlfriend, and that was Valkyrie. In a job so dangerous, you'd think falling in love would be unheard of, but no, everyone wanted to get hooked up.

"I just realized, Nova, we haven't seen you fight," Black Widow said, reaching for the cereal. "How about when everyone finishes breakfast we can all head to the training center and see what you can do?"

Two weeks had passed since Nova had appeared. As Loki had predicted, she had gotten a practically identical room right next to him. What he hadn't predicted was how quickly the team had warmed up to her. She had the kind of aura that makes people like and trust you, and she had somehow managed to befriend every single Avenger in record time. She was smart but modest, funny but not at the expense of others, and above all, seemed so innocent and unsure of herself. The Avengers had taken an instant liking to her.

You have an entire list of Nova's character traits? If I didn't know better, I might even say you liked her.

Loki ignored the little voice in his head. Nova was just outgoing and fun, and had a way of making people happy, which was a strange personality for a person so powerful. Was it possible to be both strong and kind? He had always been taught that empathy was a weakness. Caring about people, trusting blindly, reaching out, those were all signs of weakness. And yet here Nova was, reaching out to these people who could put her in a cage in a heartbeat, and she didn't seem weak at all. It almost made Loki wonder if he should do the same, as Thor constantly told him to. Almost.

Due to the fact Nova had to be around an Avenger at all times, Loki hadn't really had much time to talk to her in private, although she did insist on dragging him around to every social gathering. Hence why he was currently being forced to eat breakfast with the Avengers instead of eating in the comfort of his room.

Vision walked in. Or rather, Vision emerged from the wall.

"Vis, what have I told you about doors?"

"To use them? But this is so much quicker, Wanda. It saves so much time."

Maximoff sighed. "Fine. Pass me the butter please, Sam."

Sam obliged. "Vision, you're just in time. We were all going to head over to the training area to see if Nova's got any skill in combat."

Nova eyed him smugly. "I may be rusty, but I'm quite sure I could defeat you easily."

"Well, you all heard her, folks. We've got permission to go as hard on her as we want." That was Stark, talking around a mouthful of cereal.

Everyone finished up quickly, probably eager to wipe that smug grin off Nova's face. Loki hadn't seen her fight yet, but she didn't seem like one to exaggerate or brag. If she said something, it was safe to assume that it was completely true. It was possible that Nova meant that she could defeat them if she had her magic back, which was definitely true. From the way she moved, (gracefully), Loki would guess she wasn't that bad at combat either, but she was so small compared to everyone else. She really didn't stand a chance.

They made their way to the training area, an entire floor of Stark Tower, (again, that name. When they had re-converted it into a place for the Avengers to live, after the whole fiasco of the Avengers Compound being pulverized to dust by Thanos, he could have chosen a more subtle name), that was outfitted with every weapon imaginable, including a couple of old weapons that literally no one used, like a handful of swords, two axes, and a scythe. Daggers, at least, could be used alongside magic, and were easy to conceal. Good luck concealing a scythe on your person, though. Absolutely useless.

The ceilings were high, high enough for Wilson to fly around if he wanted to, and the walls featured a 360 degree view of New York City. The floors and what little wallspace wasn't glass or covered with weapons had a rubber material that was meant to protect you if you fell but really didn't do much.

Nova looked around, eyes wide. "How come no one ever told me about this place? Loki, why wasn't this part of the tour? This place is awesome!"

He shrugged. "We didn't get to it."

Nova walked around, admiring the weapons. She looked impressed by what she saw. "Where did you get all of these?" She ran her hand along the scythe. "This is incredibly well made. But also, why do you have a scythe? No offense to anyone who actually uses it, but scythes are quite possibly the worst weapon."

"We've collected the weapons over the years, although most of them don't ever get used. Bucky, Steve, and Sam prefer guns, Wanda and Vision have their magic-y stuff, Natasha just does hand-to-hand combat or uses the tasers, and I have a suit." Stark paused and then must have realized that Loki did in fact exist because he added, "And Loki uses knives and whatever witchery he has up his sleeves."

"Do you have a weapon of choice or do you just use your space-y Tesseract powers?" Maximoff wanted to know.

"You guys are using the wrong vocabulary," Nova said absentmindedly, picking up one of the guns, aiming it, and then putting it back down. "The Tesseract was nothing but a container for the Space Stone so that mortals could touch it. Didn't really work out though. The Space Stone is little more than a container as well. A container for me." She shook her head slightly, as if clearing her head. "Sorry, what was your original question?"

"Do you have a weapon of choice?" Maximoff repeated.

Nova's gaze drifted over to the collection of the swords. "I'm kind of old-fashioned, I guess, but I like swords."

"A sword? As in a piece-of-metal-shaped-into-a-triangle?" Barnes looked surprised and a touch amused. "I didn't think anyone used those anymore."

"Yeah, like I said, I'm old-fashioned. The question is, does anyone else know how to use a sword or something equally old-fashioned who wants to fight me? It's kind of hard to fight with a gun without hurting someone, and I can't say I'm good at hand-to-hand combat."

Rogers shook his head. "I don't know the first thing about sword-fighting, other than that pirates do it a lot in movies." He proceeded to do a demonstration, and Loki almost winced at the terrible form.

Nova looked disappointed as each of the Avengers shook their heads. "I was hoping for a chance to use a sword again, but I guess-" She stopped and turned to Loki. "Wait, you use daggers right? Close enough."

He almost laughed. "You want me to fight you? I'll let you know that I am the most skilled knife fighter in all of Asgard." Knife fighter. More like assassin, but it was best not to say that.

She narrowed her eyes at him in challenge. "Then it should be no problem to defeat me, right?"

Oh, he had walked right into that, hadn't he.

"Oh, I want to watch Nova and Loki fight. This is going to be fun." Wilson clapped his hands together.

Loki sighed. "Fine, I'll duel you."

"Alright everyone, place your bets here." Stark pulled out a piece of paper. Apparently it was customary for the Avengers not in a fight to take bets on who would win. "We all know Loki can fight well, we've seen him fight. No one has any idea how well Nova can fight, so she's a bit of a wild card. I'd say the odds are 10 to 1 for Loki. Who're you going to place your bets in favor of? Also, I'm going to get some popcorn."

"Statistically, Loki has a much better chance of winning, so I would go with him."

"If Vision says Loki has a better chance, I'm going with Loki too." That was Bucky. "Steve?"

"Whatever Bucky says."

Romanoff studied them both. "I'm going for Loki as well."

"Same." That would be Sam.

"Wow, you guys are so rude to poor Nova here. I'm betting on you."

"Wanda, thank you so much for being actually supportive. I appreciate it. The rest of you, prepare to be absolutely astonished when I win." Nova rolled back her shoulders and stretched, back arching.

Stark scoffed. "You're as thin as a bean and about as tall as one. What exactly are you going to do to the literal god?"

"You'd be surprised at what I can do. Besides, being a god doesn't make you any better or worse at dueling. If you want to talk about experience, I'm technically older than him, even if most of my life was spent in the Space Stone." She paused. "Before we do this, no magic, right?"

"Yes. If either of you use magic, you will be disqualified. Go ahead and warm up if you want to," he said, shrugging.

Nova walked over to the place where the swords hung on the wall. There were a couple of broadswords that she immediately passed over, looking instead at the smaller swords. She didn't look like she could lift a sword at all, but Loki had misjudged people before. She finally selected one, testing it by swinging it from side to side in a fluid motion and passing it from hand to hand. She looked to be proficient in sword-fighting, and the sword hummed through the air with the grace and balance of someone who had trained extensively with the weapon. This fight might be more challenging than he thought.

Loki pulled out a pair of knives that he kept in his belt at all times, because you never know when you'll have the opportunity to stab someone. He also had a couple in his boots, and three up each sleeve, but he wasn't going to use them in this fight. The other Avengers didn't know they existed, and he wasn't about to show them.

He twirled them a couple of times, just to give a demonstration of his skills. Never underestimate the power of intimidation. He had no qualms about defeating Nova; it was a great way to show the Avengers that he wasn't someone to be messed with, as long as she put up a good fight.

"Alright, you two. Positions." Stark had made good on his promise of popcorn and was passing some out to the rest of the Avengers. Loki could only guess how he had gotten all that popcorn, but no one seemed that surprised.

The first few seconds were spent circling each other. To make the first move was to give up your advantage, and they were both too good to strike without first assessing the other's ability. Loki wasn't one to make a sudden move, but he was eager to get this over with, so he gave up his advantage in a quick swipe to her head. As expected, she blocked it, but he had not expected the speed at which she launched a counterattack.

Nova's weapon was a natural extension of her arm, and she definitely knew how to use it. She ducked, weaved, and parried with incredible speed, and Loki was having a lot of trouble landing a blow. More than that, he was having trouble doing much of anything; her blows came so frequently that he didn't have time to get in any of his own. She forced him back, pressing her advantage. He had neve fought anyone so skilled, but then again, Asgardians much preferred their large weapons and brute strength to the skill and dexterity needed to wield smaller weapons.

One strike came precariously close to cutting him, and when it missed him by a hair's width, he almost sighed with relief.

"Don't get too comfortable," Nova warned, almost mockingly, and Loki realized that she had missed on purpose, just to show off. As if to ram this message home, she flicked her wrists in an upward motion to just barely miss his head. He could hear the humming sound it made as it missed him by an inch.

He took a half second to observe the Avengers, who all looked to be in varying states of shock and amazement. Bad idea. His lack of attention earned him a sharp strike with the flat of Nova's sword. "Don't look over there. Focus."

Was she mocking him? How dare she talk to him that way, as if he was a student taking a lesson.

She's not the one with the problem. She's not the one who's weak.

Shut up.

They broke apart. Loki was surprised to realize that he was panting, his breath coming in short gasps. They started circling again, and Loki was on his toes in anticipation. Focus. Concentrate. Don't mess up, everyone is watching.

"This is fascinating. They look like they're dancing." Obviously Rogers had never seen a real duel before.

This time it was Nova who struck first. The clang of metal on metal rang out once more as they started to exchange blows. Nova didn't even look like she was trying anymore. She was completely showing off, adding unnecessary twirls and movements that did nothing but looked impressive.

She was blocking his increasingly haphazard strikes with ease, but she wasn't forcing him back too fast or too hard.

She was toying with him.

I thought you were the predator. The voice was mocking him. I thought you said this was going to be an easy fight?

Shut. Up.

The voice quieted but refused to disappear. Loki barely ducked out of the way as Nova's sword passed over his head. He tried to catch her off guard, but she was too quick; quick to draw back and quick to regain her balance.

He vaguely heard Maximoff say, "You all owe me a ton of money. See, this is what happens when you support your friends."

Loki felt a sharp pain in his hand. Nova had executed a move he'd never seen before, twisting his knife in a way that forced him to let go of it. A simple disarming trick with her own unique flourish. Now he was down to fighting with one blade, which meant it took twice the work to block each of her strikes, which were raining down hard and fast. She used the same trick on his other hand, and his knife was tossed across the room. He backed up quickly, forced to bend his body in painful ways to avoid Nova's sword.

Loki didn't need to look over to know what the rest of the Avengers were thinking. The thought he was weak, that he was pathetic.

They're saying it because it's true.

You are pathetic.

You are weak.

You are a disappointment.

SHUT. UP.

If Nova had been better at reading people, she wouldn't have chosen that exact moment to end the fight, but she wasn't even looking at Loki. She was looking away, looking at the Avengers, because she knew in about two seconds the fight would be over.

She brought her sword up towards Loki's throat.

Loki knew that, he knew the move, had used it himself a hundred times to end a duel. He knew that she wasn't going to hurt him, that the weapon would stop before it touched his skin, but when he saw the sword coming up, his subconsciousness took over. A combination of anger, red, hot, anger, and fear, primitive, overpowering fear, took over.

When Nova brought her sword upwards, Loki's body reacted in the only way it knew how.

He lashed out.

Loki, being usually weaker than his opponents, was used to winning through tricks that would be considered cheating by other people's standards. Whether it was hiding other knives on his person, or using his magic to disarm them, which were both forms of cheating in Asgard, he had gotten good at the art of justifying his actions.

Stabbing Thor for no reason other than jealousy? If Thor was going to be king, he would have to learn that even the people closest to him could stab him in the back. That time he turned a servant into a frog and it took three days for Frigga to turn him back? That servant shouldn't have laughed at him. He had needed to learn his place.

Being able to justify his actions was a skill that did much more harm than good, in any case. A habit that was altogether hard to break, one that encouraged him to do terrible things because he could always excuse himself. Unfortunately, or perhaps thankfully, depending on how one looked at it, Loki was having trouble justifying what he had just done to Nova.

Loki remembered being scared, terrified, an emotion that he was more familiar with than he would like to admit. He remembered the pulsing, his seidr pushing up, just underneath his skin, until it overwhelmed him. He remembered holding out his hand, (he hadn't meant to, he really hadn't), and just letting his magic flow out of him into Nova in a burst of green light. She hadn't even been looking at him, and he couldn't get her expression of pure shock and fear out of his head. She was unconscious before she had even hit ground, which saved her a lot of unnecessary pain, if nothing else.

Now Nova lay unconscious on the ground. She had quickly shed her strange foreign clothing for a simple pair of jeans and a hoodie, borrowed from Maximoff, and both articles of clothing were smoking slightly. Her sword, which had borne the brunt of the attack, lay on the ground next to her, melting into a puddle of liquid iron. The smell of liquid metal filled the air, and Loki's stomach turned. He looked away.

Look what you've done.

Look at the damage you cause everywhere you go.

What will she think of you now?

Monster.

Maximoff, trembling, one shaking hand covering her mouth, knelt by her side, reaching cautiously for her wrist to feel for a heartbeat. She seemed afraid to touch the prone body on the ground, and Loki was reminded of a moment weeks ago when Nova had again been lying on the ground. But then it had been her that they were afraid of, not him.

"She's alive, but her heartbeat is really faint," she said shakily.

Vision placed one hand on Nova's forehead, probably reading her vital signs, and another on Maximoff's shoulder to reassure her.

"What is your problem? What. Is. Your. Problem?" Stark had gathered enough of his thoughts to form coherent sentences, and turned on Loki with an expression of anger and disgust that he didn't even bother to hide. Why should he? "You could have killed her, you psychopath! I can't - I don't even know what to say!"

"She wasn't trying to hurt you." Rogers was eyeing him warily, and Loki couldn't help but notice the way he stepped in front of the rest of the group to shield them from a possible future attack. "Just. . ." He trailed off, looking down at Nova's unconscious body. "Just leave. Right now."

ENDNOTES: Well, this turned out to be a really long chapter. . . I hope you liked it! Thank you to everyone who's commented, liked, and followed this story! It means so much to me.