He stood in front of you, arm outstretched as flames engulfed his entire being. His black eyes reflected the flames as they bore into your soul. You wanted to run from the boy on fire, yet your legs refused to work in your favor. The heat was unbearable as he inched closer, and closer, and closer. With a shaky hand his grip was near your throat until a familiar voice whispered your name in your ear, causing the boy in flames to recede back into the darkness.
You woke up from your deep, yet stressful sleep. Usually you wouldn't get hangovers, but considering what happened the night before your body was heavy from exhaustion. Your head didn't hurt as much as you thought it would, but there was a consistent, dull throb that surfaced every so often. The dream you had crept back into your mind, especially the voice that called your name. Even though it was so clear, you couldn't place whose it was. The boy in flames was all too familiar. He was there almost every night. A sharp knock at the door distracted you from your thoughts.
You checked your phone to see the time; eight in the morning on the dot. Rubbing the sleep from your eyes you shuffled out of bed. Your head pounded harder when you got to your feet, then it settled down after a moment getting yourself oriented. There was a second knock, faster this time, signaling you to hurry up. You opened the door allowing the light from the hallway to flow in your room, causing you to squint your eyes to adjust from the sudden brightness. Even though your eyes felt like they were being stabbed by light, you could still see the tall figure standing in the doorway.
"Loki, what are you doing here? It's too early." You asked, rubbing your eye hoping it would help adjust to the light faster.
"Good morning to you as well." He replied, "You're looking awfully unprepared for today. First impressions are everything on your first day. You're lucky I even let you sleep in." Loki visibly eyed you up and down. Your hair was a mess, there was leftover makeup smudged on your face, and your pajamas were days overdue for a wash.
This time when you squinted it was in confusion, "First day for what?" After you spoke you remembered the agreement you made with Loki the night before. "I completely forgot. Can you give me, like, thirty minutes so I can shower and eat?"
Loki tapped his chin, pondering your question, "I'll allow it. However, if I have to wait for you again, I may have to resort to a suitable punishment."
You rolled your eyes, "Cool, whatever. Just let me shower so I don't smell like overpriced liquor." You shut the door on Loki before he had a chance to say anything else. His foot halted the door before it could close entirely. Loki barged through, closing the door behind him so it was just the two of you in your room.
"Allow me to clarify the terms of our bargain," Loki stated, "even though I changed our agreement, the fact stays that I am still the one who is in a higher position no matter which deal you chose. I would highly advise you to be a little more respectful if you don't want your dear Avenger friends to know that you and I were outside of these walls."
You tilted your head in a mix of confusion and annoyance, "Are you blackmailing me?" You scoffed, "You realize that if you tattle on me you're tattling on yourself."
"I'm highly aware. However, I'm already dealing with my punishment."" Loki paced around the room, eyeing your belongings like it was his own personal museum, granted you didn't have much on display. Dirty clothes were here and there, thankfully nothing embarrassing other than some shirts and a pair of pants. The only thing worth looking at was a framed photo of you, Maya, and Lilly on your dresser. Loki picked up the frame, inspecting the photo, "They refuse to put me in anyone else's care other than their own for safety measures, so they can't send me somewhere else. You on the other hand are disposable."
You snatched the picture from his hand as if he was contaminating it somehow, "I'm not disposable," you mocked his accent, "I have value here, they even said I could be part of the team. True I'm still gaining some trust, but..." Loki's words were starting to make sense to you. They see Loki as a bigger threat than you, and with many of the members having personal experiences with him of course the Avengers refuse to let anyone else have custody. You on the other hand showed up out of the blue with a sob story and no trust to be earned. If they had to choose between the lesser of two evils, ironically you would be first on the list to kick out. Even if they don't force you to leave, the respect you did manage to earn would be tossed out and you would have to start from square one. Once again, Loki was backing you into a corner of choices with only one viable answer.
Loki noticed you were putting the pieces together in your head, "Are we in agreement?"
You shrugged in exasperation, "Yes, fine we're in agreement. Just don't rat us out." You put the photo back in it's spot while you were on your way to the bathroom, stopping at the door, "Can you wait a minute so I can shower now?"
"Yes, you may." Loki said, gesturing his arm out as if verbal permission wasn't enough.
Upon entering the bathroom with your makeup still scattered around the counter from the night before, you slammed the door to make sure Loki got the hint that you weren't completely satisfied with your deal.
You turned the handles in the shower, filling the room with the sound of flowing water and hot steam. Still sore from the night prior, you slowly undressed down to your bare skin. Looking in the mirror, you observed the bruises Nate left when he was dragging you into his car. Shame, embarrassment, regret, so many emotions filled you to the point your stomach began to churn. How could you be so stupid? You were a trained spy taught to spot any sign of danger to protect yourself. The moment a guy you thought you had a chance with came into your life, you let your guard down for one second, leading to everything going to shit. The reason you were put into that position in the first place was because you let your pride get to you after your fight with Loki. If you would have sucked it up and gone back to the party you could have at least pretended to enjoy the rest of the night. You wanted to blame Loki so bad. Blame him for putting you into that position. Yet deep down you know no one was truly at fault. Loki even saved you the second he knew something was wrong. The only thing you could do now was forget the whole ordeal happened.
You stepped into the hot shower, the soreness in your body melting away. You promised yourself to quit thinking about the attack or anything to do with it, but your mind kept slipping to the thought of Loki saving you. You know he carried you to the car, and from what you pieced together you know he messed Nate up pretty good. Perhaps there is some kindness in that god's heart. Yet again, you were his ride home, and if you ended up missing on his accord you had a feeling that the team wouldn't like that at all, so he was obliged to rescue you.
It was all over and done with, so there is no reason for you to dwell on it any longer.
You stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around yourself. You proceeded to brush your teeth and prepare for the "highly" anticipated day ahead of you. Opening the door, you didn't expect Loki to still be in your room, sitting on your bed.
"Loki! What are you still doing here?" Making sure your towel was on securely, you hid halfway behind the bathroom door, "When I said to wait while I get ready I didn't mean for you to wait here."
"It wasn't my intention on being here when you were finished," Loki said, making eye contact with you but not daring to look anywhere else, "but your father is waiting for you outside."
Your eyes widened, "What does he want?"
"I'm not sure, but I told him you were changing to buy you some time."
If you could, your eyes widened even more, "You talked to him? Did it even occur to you what Tony would think as to why you're in my room this early in the morning?"
"Don't be obscure, I answered as you." He turned his head to the door, "I suggest you hurry though, it's been a little over five minutes since I, I mean you, spoke to him."
You let out an annoyed groan. Opening the bathroom door fully, you stepped forward and grabbed Loki by the arm, forcing him to stand and walk with you. "Hide. If he sees you- me… us, we're dead." With that you shoved him in your bathroom and shut the door. Quickly you found a pair of pants and shirt to throw on, even if they were from the dirty pile of clothes.
"Sorry about that, when did you get back-" You opened your door not to be greeted by Tony, but one of his Iron Man suits. "...Why are you suited up?"
"I'm not," the suit said as the helmet opened, revealing no one inside, "I'm still in Norway." His suit took a few steps into your room. When he entered you closed the door behind you leaving a small gap in between the door and the frame. "We don't have the nitty gritty details in stone but we have the green light to relocate the Asgardians. Your idea is getting somewhere, kid."
"Really?" you beamed, "That's great news, what's the next step?"
"Thor is mapping out an old town named Tønsberg. It's practically abandoned and has plenty of houses and stuff for them to get started. A lot of the buildings are worn down and need updates, but in a few months we should have everything set up for a new society."
You were lost for words, but in the best of ways. An idea of yours was going to impact an entire civilization, to give them a second chance on an alien world. In some ways, you could compare yourself to the Asgardians. Both you and them had to watch the world around go to ruins, only to arrive somewhere new in hopes of sanctuary, or at least a stepping stone to carry on with life. Funny enough, with your situation Loki directly destroyed New York to rule it, but indirectly destroyed Asgard to save the people. Not that you were going to thank him for nearly enslaving the planet, but it was an odd comparison.
"When can the people of Asgard move to Tønsberg?" You ask, "Or are they going to call it something new since they're calling dibs. Asgard two-point-oh?"
You could hear a static chuckle from his end, "Something like that. They're going to send groups at a time to help with the renovations, then we can send families and such." A moment of silence filled the room, as you thought that'd be the end of your conversation, until Tony spoke up again, "So about lunch plans-"
"We don't have to plan it now," you interrupt, "I understand that you and Thor have a lot of planning to do, we can talk about it when you're really here."
Tony nodded, "Alright then, I'll just go break the news to your gothic neighbor and I'll see you tomorrow."
Ha, your gothic neighbor. Oh fu- "Or! Before you talk to him, if you do have the time, we can talk about ideas on where to go." You tried to nonchalantly change the subject. Two things could go down if Tony found that Loki wasn't in his room; number one, Loki stayed hidden in the bathroom and you get blamed for losing him on your watch, which you technically didn't. Number two, Loki reveals he was in the bathroom the whole time, leading Tony to ask why the hell he was in there when you said you were getting dressed, leading to a bigger branch of possibilities that could all explode in your face. Either option you despised. "I've been living in New York for a few months, but I've only been to so many places that fit with my budget. I'd like to explore and try new things."
Tony tilted his head, you thought he was calling your bluff until he shrugged, "There's a ton of local places that are pretty good, but if you want to be adventurous there's a seafood place on 51st…" As Tony went on about restaurants, you prayed to whoever Loki got the hint to get back to his room or you're both in deep shit. And as if on cue, someone listened. You saw the door creep open just a couple of inches, and on the ground a small, green and black snake slithered behind Tony's feet, out of your barely opened door, and out of sight. You tried to keep your composure and eyes focused on the suit until you heard the hardly noticeable sound of Loki's door opening then closing. You finally relaxed the tension in your shoulders knowing that you were home free. "Any of those sound good to you?"
You snap back to the conversation between Tony and yourself, "Uh, yeah those sound good. Any of those Italian?"
"I mentioned a couple, but I can set us up with something nice." Tony said as he headed towards the door, "I'll catch you around, kid." With that he closed the door behind him to tell Loki the news, unbeknownst to Tony he already did.
You let out a sigh of relief as you plopped yourself onto your bed. You desperately wanted to crawl back under the covers and sleep, but you knew you'd have to deal with the wrath of Loki again, which was quite annoying the first time. Forcing yourself up, you decided to face the day, even if it meant spending time with a stupid face.
Once again you found yourself in the sparring arena where you fought Bucky. This time you were facing an annoying god from another world that happens to have leverage over you, at least for the time being. You kept thinking to yourself it would only be two weeks that you would have to endure this stupid deal you stupidly made that you never thought through since you were being so stupid. If you could endure years of torturous training with Hydra, you could last a couple weeks with the trickster god.
For now you have to try to grin and bear it. Maybe once this was all over you could try to gain the upper hand in your complicated partnership, if you wanted to call it that.
"Are you familiar with Asgardian style combat?" Loki asked, adjusting the gauntlets on his wrists. You shook your head 'no', "Of course not." He said under his breath, "Warriors from Asgard are taught to be resourceful in their surroundings as well as use their talents to their advantage. One would normally prefer a weapon that best suits an ability they excel in. For example, someone who uses brute strength would wield something to channel that energy, like my brother and his hammer. Or someone who has a keen eye would use something with precision such as a bow and arrow, like your friend Barton."
You stretched your arms as you listened to Loki rambling about Asgardian fighting. The more he spoke the more you realized how he had some passion behind his teaching. The way he described the history and methods of Asgardian fighting was almost like he was retelling tales that he either lived through or were told as a child. You noticed a glint behind those green eyes of his.
"What do you use?" You interrupt Loki mid-rant.
Loki raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry?"
"If Thor has a hammer and Clint has a bow, what's your weapon that suits you?"
Loki sighed, disappointed that you broke him off from his history lesson, "Personally I use-" He stopped mid sentence, "On second thought, how about I show you and you can come to your conclusion." Loki conjured a dagger in each hand, without warning he lunged for the attack.
By startled instinct, you countered Loki's movements with every stab and slice he threw at you. You were all too familiar with daggers and knives. A knife was an accessible weapon that could be used up close or at a distance with proper aim. Hydra made sure that every child could work up close and personal or throw with the aim of a marksman in order to finish the job. You couldn't help but be reminded of the first butterfly knife you were given to practice with. The same knife you were given a week after being released from solitary confinement when you were forced to murder your best friend. Specially given to you by Kilcher himself, now forever buried under the rubble of a building. More should have been lost and forgotten in the debris. Your pain, memories, nightmares that you have every night of the torments you had to endure and bestow to others. Engulfed under concrete with Kilcher and the other Hydra men who well deserved their deaths.
Now wasn't the best of times to brood. You snapped back to reality when you miscalculated an incoming attack, giving Loki advantage to catch you off guard. You knew he was a god, but you didn't anticipate how strong he was. Fortunately for you, you had already disarmed Loki of both daggers.
"I'm impressed," he said, pinning you down, "I was told that you already possessed some skill in hand to hand combat. No wonder you chose a fight with the Captain's lackey."
That's right, you remembered he mentioned at the club that somebody told him about your predicament. Who told him and how much they told, you had no idea, but you didn't really appreciate someone going around gossiping about you, particularly to the guy kicking your ass.
"Who?-" You grunted, struggling under his weight, "Who's been telling you all of this? There's no way anyone from the team explicitly told you my life story."
"You're right, no one told me directly," he replied, "however, people like to talk when they think no one else is around to the people they trust most. If one were to look like their trusted person, you can get them to tell you anything. And you might have slipped some information to me here and there." Confused, you didn't know what he was implying. Then you remembered he was a shapeshifter. He was disguising himself as the other members to talk to them. Whether it was to gain intel or to ease his loneliness you weren't positive, either option was sad. For all you knew, instead of talking to Natasha or Thor you were really talking to Loki. You hoped to whoever that you didn't say anything embarrassing to possibly/possibly not Loki.
Throwing your hips to the side, you managed to slide your leg over his waist, allowing you to get out from under him. You were at the advantage now; blocking his attacks, reacting to his movements, you refused to let Loki beat you. Just like we used to spar, remember? His voice shot through your mind. Marcus, the boy who brought light to a blackened prison. The boy who taught you how to make good moments count.
The boy whose death was brought by your hands.
Memories flashed before your eyes. The two of you practicing in the courtyard the new moves that were taught. You don't know why but in this moment with Loki you felt a wave of nostalgia. Seeing your guard go down, Loki took the opportunity to not hold back. You could barely keep up with the attacks as you pushed your intrusive thoughts away.
Before making your next move, a voice from the intercom startled you, "What are you two doing?" The voice boomed.
Startled by the sudden noise, you missed an attack that sent you tumbling to the ground. You regained your composure before looking up to see Steve, and he looked pissed. "Anyone care to explain what the hell I just witnessed?" Steve asked, his usual go-lucky demeanor long gone.
Loki stepped back from you, showing off his charismatic smile to woo the Captain, "If I may-"
"I don't want to hear a word from you." Steve snapped, "I want to hear from her."
All eyes on you, time seemed to slow down and speed up as you tried to think of a valid excuse. "It was my idea," you began, "I was feeling rusty with fighting and everyone was busy with missions and stuff, so Loki is my voluntary human punching bag."
Loki looked offended, "I'm not a human nor a punching bag, but yes she requested my assistance in sparring and as I clearly have nothing else to do I said yes."
Steve rubbed his chin in thought. He trusted you way more than Loki, but he couldn't help but feel like Loki was up to something. "Alright. I don't have a say in this since it's not my call, but I don't want to see this happen again until you get Tony's permission."
You rolled your eyes and sighed, "Fine, I'll ask him." Steve nodded, then glared at Loki before leaving the gallery.
"You're distracted." said Loki, offering his hand to help you up.
"Of course I am," you pointed up towards the gallery, "I totally would have had you if he didn't interrupt." You ignored his gesture and stood up on your own. Your body was already aching, you were sure there would be bruises by tomorrow.
"That's not what I'm talking about. There is something else intruding your thoughts. Allowing your memories to surface during combat can be beneficial, but also a distraction. You need to only think of your training and what drives you to fight." Loki's words were sincere. This was one of the few times his tone felt mocking or sarcastic. "If there are memories or something that you need to get off your chest, you need to find peace with it even if it's for a few minutes."
"What are you, my shrink?" You dusted yourself off of dirt from the mats, "Listen, I appreciate the lectures and words or wisdom, but I need to deal with my personal problems on my own. It's nothing against you, honest. It's just a thing I need to do. And quit shapeshifting into my friends. If you want to talk to someone you can always ask."
Loki nodded, "I will respect that." You were surprised with how mature he was handling this. It was almost sweet. "Now that I've seen exactly how much you can handle, I can determine our future sessions from this point forward." he said as you both exited the arena.
"Right, if we even have future sessions. I need to talk to Tony and get his blessing."
"I'm sure he will allow you to use me as a 'human punching bag'." He smiled, and you couldn't help but smile back.
