It had been a bad week. Your sleep had been interrupted with repeats of what you had experienced, and as a result; you were slightly clumsy and had double figure new bruises from colliding with things. As well as that, you had been declined for an assistance dog based on your living area. The organisation in charge felt it was too risky for a dog to reside in Stark's building, considering the nature of Tony's work; it disheartened you substantially, not that anyone would know, since you had not seen anyone in days. The Avenger's were on different assignments, both official and personal, and however the fates had decided, you had not come in contact with Loki in that time either. You wondered what floor he was on, wondering should you go and thank him again for all he had done in protecting you. All in all, loneliness, annoyance, frustration and the resulting stress and bad eating and sleeping meant you were like a grizzly bear with a toothache.

You bit the inside of your cheek as you washed your hands, facing what you knew was the mirror, wondering what it was you looked like now. Did the extra few inches of hair suit you, nowadays you did not tie it back as much, since you rarely left your rooms, did it suit you better, and had the incident altered anything about your face other than the cloudiness you knew was now in your eyes, swallowing hard, you were forced to accept that you would never know. Many times, you had studied your face using your hands to feel for anything different, but all you established was that you had an outbreak of acne once a month since you were no longer on birth control, not that you had asked anyone if you had skin colouration damage, and you suspected they would not tell you if you had. The only consolation you had was the first time you had encountered Loki; he seemed to think you perfectly normal to look at to say he had thought you jesting, if you had looked different, you know he would have said it.

Walking out of the bathroom, you felt claustrophobic in your rooms, so in need of some fresh air, you walked towards the elevator. It opened before you had reached it, causing you to pause for a moment.

"Kiddo, you alright?" You left out the breath you were holding when you realised it was Tony. "I was just on my way to see you."

"Yeah, I gathered that, what with my rooms being the only thing on this floor, and you being here." You scoffed jokingly.

"This is true, I had not thought of that." He admitted, looking to the wall. "I actually came to ask you about that dog thing." You shifted awkwardly. "What happened?"

"Apparently I most certainly am a candidate for such a thing, but my environment is not." You explained

"Meaning?"

"I am good, Stark Tower is not."

Tony rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry Kiddo."

"I was thinking…"

"That's not good."

"I think I need to try and get back to my old life, in my old apartment." You fiddled with your fingers anxiously.

"Do you think you are ready for that?" Stark forcibly reined himself in, he wanted to stop you from even considering it, but Loki's words plagued him, so he held back, but the idea of you trying negotiate several floors of a stairwell and going through streets unaided concerned him greatly.

"I never will be, not here. I am not allowed learn, I can't even get a dog to help me." You forced the tears to remain at bay, sick of having them well up and make you seem as though you were simply emotional rather than just angry.

"We can work around the dog thing."

"How? You can't just steal a dog."

"Actually, there is an entire industry for that these days apparently; but no, I was not talking about stealing one. It's easy to get one and get it professionally trained. Think about it, at least this one the rest of us can actually acknowledge, not to mention Barton will have someone on his level to hang out with." You snorted a laugh at that. "I mean, if you want to leave, no one can stop you, but in truth, it's nice having you here, hell, I think even Loki would miss you."

"You mean you'd miss having someone else here with an IQ exceeding 140; and lay off Loki, he saved my life."

"He tried to take over the city." Tony argued

"He was being forced to, Thor stated such himself."

"And he threw me out a window."

"In all fairness, most people want to throw you out a window Tony; also, you said you made a dick joke beforehand."

"It was funny." Tony nodded and smiled smugly as he recalled the incident.

"If it were not for Loki, I would have been killed, and you know it, and he took care of me afterwards too."

"Where had he you hidden, out of curiosity?"

"On the floor he shares with Thor, you have him forbidden from everywhere else and he could not get me to my floor. By the way, for everything he did, I want to thank him, and you have just reminded me of something."

"What?"

"Let him onto a training floor."

"Not a hope."

"Please Tony, nothing serious, hand to hand combat stuff only. He is a warrior; it's who he is, same as Thor. How would you like if you weren't allowed to invent anything again."

"That's different, what he has done…"

"How? Until the whole Middle East thing, you were fine with what Stark Industries was doing, how is that much better? Did the Maximoff's see you any differently to how people here see him? If he is able to rid himself of his frustrations, he will become easier to deal with, you know that as well as I do."

"I take it back, I hate not being the only smart ass." Tony rubbed his palms to his eyes. "Fine, but no weapons."

"I think that fair." You reached out and he took your hands. "I would be completely lost but for you Tony, thank you."

"I know, it's true." He beamed cockily. "So you'll stay?"

"I've got to, you've promised me a dog."

"Just not some little yapping rat thing, a proper one that can carry your misplaced jumpers."

"What happened that jumper actually, Loki said he left it on the chair?"

"I don't know." Stark shrugged.

"Tony?" You did not trust his tone.

"It was Rogers, he said it had to be thrown away in case Loki did something to it." He confessed.

"What? I loved that jumper; that Star Spangled idiot owes me a new one. What was Loki going to do, put itching powder in it, he is powerless now."

"Hmm, itching powder…"

"Do not put itching powder in Cap's suit, that will not be of use to you in a battle." You warned.

"Not his suit, but his training gear…"

"You are a forty something year old child, you know that?"

"Well you know what they say about certain childhoods, they cause childish adults. Besides, that's a matter of opinion." Stark walked you to the elevator. "I can't believe Loki actually was nice to someone."

"I know, it's like you being humble."

"Never happened." Tony shook his head.

X

"Pardon?"

"As a result of what you did for me, I had Stark give you a training area, nothing fancy, no weapons, just basic stuff."

"Better than nothing I suppose." Loki dismissed as he made himself a coffee with syrup to sweeten, pretending he was nonplussed by it all.

"You're welcome." You laughed, knowing full well he was happier than he was letting on.

He eyed you carefully. "Why did you do this?"

"Do what?"

"Speak with him regards it."

"I wanted to thank you."

"Why?"

"You saved my life."

"They would not have been here if I had not been."

"That is not of your choosing though, if you had a choice, you would not be here, would you?" He did not respond. "So, it was not your fault."

"You do not think like most of the rest of your species." Loki stated. "You do not fear me."

"I live in a building that also houses, pending the day of the week; assassins, a Hulk, a weapons manufacturer, all of whom have killed thousands between them, and Thor, who has more blood on his hands than all the rest of them, if anything, you are in good company, and I am the odd one out. To fear you is to fear everyone else here."

"You're not wrong."

"I seldom am."

"Do you not have a family? Why do you find yourself living here and not with them?"

"My parents are not really nice people. My father is an alcoholic." She could sense the confusion seeping off Loki. "He is addicted to alcohol, and well, humans don't do well with too much of that. My mother wanted nothing to do with me, apparently, I am too much work now, and she said she finished her duties as a parent when I went to college." Your voice was filled with bitterness at that.

Loki clenched his teeth slightly at that information. Clearly Midgardian parenting was even worse than Aesir. "I see."

"Tony met them before, he knew what I was dealing with, so that is why he invited me here, it was either here or my crumby old apartment, I think I would have been killed within a week had I went back there, the stairs alone would have done it. I complain about what they do for me, but at the beginning I needed it, now though, I just need to figure it out for myself."

"And the plan with the hound?"

"Tony has found a place that trains them, so he contacted them, explained the situation. I will have one in a fortnight."

"Fortnight?"

"Two weeks."

"Can Midgardian hounds be trained so swiftly?"

"No, this one already has been trained for several months, they are just adding one or two more commands and training it to walk with a harness to help me. That can be done in that time. I am actually looking forward to it." You smiled.

"Yes well, hopefully it will not smell the place up too much."

"More so than a bunch of warriors, that is a feat that would be noteworthy!" You laughed. "So, floor eighty four is for you, and there are some toys put in there for you."

"Toys!?" He declared indignantly.

"Yes, toys, not children's toys, training ones, similar to what Thor has." You laughed. "Take a look, perhaps you'll like it."

"Hmm." He grumbled.

"Enjoy, we both know you are going to go straight there when I leave, don't pretend otherwise."

Loki watched you begin to leave. "Do not pretend to know what I am thinking."

"I'm not wrong though, am I?" He grumbled again, telling you his answer.