Rachel's Point Of View

I walked through central park, the air crisp and fresh as it ran through my hair. The open space made me think of the vast areas used for training warriors in Asgard, and it helped me think. The talk with Ezra had given me much to think about.

I returned to our apartment, slowly climbing the set of stairs to reach our door. The dull greys and blues of the apartment contrasted with clean bright colours outside. With a sigh I opened the front door and shook my coat off, hanging it by the door.
"Hello," I shouted out, wondering if Loki had returned or if he was still on Asgard.
My call rang out through the small space, met with silence. I made a face to the emptiness, and then slowly walked to the bedroom. I sat on the bed, using the remote for once to turn on the TV and channel surf for something at least half decent to mindlessly watch.

I'm not sure how long I had been sitting there, when I decided that I was in want of food. Carefully unfolding myself from the nest I had made of sheets, I padded towards the fridge. There wasn't much in there; a half used carton of eggs, a nearly finished bottle of milk and some left over Thai that Loki had obviously ordered the day before I arrived. Closing the door in disappointment, I opened a cupboard to find a packet of chips, and returned to watching TV.
I must have dozed off, for I awoke and the sky outside was darkening, the first stars of Midgard just starting to sparkle in the sky. I stood quickly, deciding that I should make or at least reheat something for my dinner. I had forgotten that I was still tangled in sheets, and promptly landed heavily on the floor.
"That actually hurt," I said indignantly, extracting my hands first so that I could roll onto my back.
I heard steps coming towards our room, and my heart rate increased.
"What are you doing on the floor?" Loki looked at me in surprise.
"What are you doing back on Midgard?" I countered, not willing to admit I'd tripped myself and fallen out of bed.
"We had finished what I was needed for," Loki shrugged carelessly, "So I returned here to you."
I had finally disentangled my feet from the sheets, and kicked them out of my way so that I could stand.
"I apologise for not preparing a meal upon your return," I jested, as Loki helped pull me to my feet.
"Your apology is accepted," He pulled me close, and I gasped as I put weight on my right leg.
"Rachel? What is the matter?" Loki frowned, taking all my weight.
"My right ankle," I twisted so that Loki was able to pick me up, "It is possible that I sprained it when I fell." Now was not the time to protect my pride. He carried me to the bed, placing me so that my leg was sitting out in front of me. I prodded the ankle, feeling the pain when I moved it.
"Yup," I sighed, "Definitely sprained." I started to gather magic into my hands so that I could heal myself. Loki knelt next to me, taking my sore ankle in both his hands. Before I could do anything, a green light spread over my ankle, and then slowly sank into the skin. The pain disappeared and the swelling immediately went down.
"What did you do that for?" I asked, a little surprised and a little confused.
"I do believe you need your ankle for walking," He smirked at me, offering his arm for me to balance on as I stood.
"I am aware of that," I put weight on the ankle, and there was no pain, "I am a healer, after all. I could have fixed it myself."
"You are a healer," Loki agreed as we walked towards the kitchen, "But you are also my wife, and I took a vow to protect you." I couldn't help but grin, this was the side of him that only I ever saw.

We were sitting at the kitchen table, having had a small meal of food found in the freezer.
"I was talking to Ezra today," I began, "And I mentioned how small this place is," Loki's faced showed his disgust at the state of the place in which we currently inhabited. I took a breath in before continuing.
"She suggested that we talk to Tony, he could build us a larger place." I eyed him cautiously, knowing how well he liked the billionaire.
"No," Loki said simply, "That will not happen." I sighed gently, this was not going to be nice and simple.
"Would you not prefer somewhere with more space?" I asked gently.
"Yes," he agreed, "I would rather have more room. But I will not allow us to be in debt to Tony Stark."
"Loki," I hoped to appeal to his ego this time, "This abode is not fit for a prince or king of Midgard, let alone the prince of Asgard," He quirked his eyebrow at me.
"I agree," he stated simply, "Go on."
I smiled, this may not be as hard as I first thought.
"I have a proposal for you," Loki steepled his fingers, and I knew I had his attention.
"We can talk to Tony, negotiate the design together. But allow him to choose the location, after all we own no land on Midgard. He will not be in our debt if we repay him with something I am certain he is eager for, which will not be costly at all for either of us."
Loki nodded once, showing he followed my train of thought, "And what do we have that he would want?" He questioned me.
It was my turn to smile, I had this all sorted.
"I am sure Tony Stark would be most keen to visit Asgard," I had played my final card, it was now up to Loki.
He took my hand and kissed it softly, "Alright, we have a deal," I couldn't help but smile, "Go ring your friend."

"Hello Ezra," I couldn't keep the grin off of my face. "He agreed, I believe we will be in need of Tony's engineering genius."
"Congratulations," I could almost see Ezra bouncing around the tower, "HEY TONY! THEY AGREED," I heard her shout out.
I laughed, we both seemed as happy as each other about it. It made me feel good knowing I had my best friend back by my side.
"Hey, you free to come by the tower tomorrow and start looking at floor plans?" Ezra asked. I looked over to where Loki was sitting up against the headboard, mouthing tomorrow morning. He shrugged his shoulders, unfazed.
"I believe I can keep his highness on Midgard," I laughed, "Tomorrow morning work for you?"
I heard discussion on her end of the phone, and then a loud clatter.
"Sorry," Ezra's voice came back through the speaker, "I dropped the phone. Any time after 11 works here."
"Right then, we will see you then. Thank you, both of you." I hung up and ran to Loki's side.
"WE HAVE A HOUSE!" I yelled happily.
Loki looked up and then pulled me down onto the bed beside him, "We do not have it yet, my dear."
I rolled my eyes and he smiled, "But I share your sentiment, it will be good to have a place truly of our own."

The next day we reached Avengers tower, just in time for a rain shower to start. Huddling under the verandah, I buzzed the intercom. Before I could say anything, the door swung open and we made our way to the upper levels. Part of me hoped that all the Avengers would be there, I had something I needed to discuss with them.
Ezra greeted me at the elevator doors, pouncing on me with a huge hug.
"Just wait here a minute," she gestured to the living space, four of the Avengers spread around the room, "I'll go get Tony from his workshop."
She walked off cheerfully, and I was happy to have a chance to confront the Avengers.

"What in the name of the gods are you all thinking?" I exploded the moment that Ezra was out of earshot. They all looked up at me, surprise and confusion written on their faces.
"I'm not quite sure I follow," Steve began slowly, looking up from his drawing pad.
"She's not your pet," I said angrily, "Ezra should be able to leave here for as long as she likes."
"Rachel," Natasha began calmly, "I'm not sure what you have heard, but she isn't trapped here."
My eyebrows shot up, "No, of course not. I am sure the tracking device is PURELY for her own safety."
They looked at me, Natasha's hand sitting just above her gun and Clint reaching for his bow.
"I see I have hit a nerve there," I growled, flexing my hands, "So, why is she being tracked?"
"As far as I am aware," Steve started, walking calmly towards me, "There is no tracking device."
I shook my head in disbelief, "I am not stupid," I narrowed my eyes at them.
"Rachel," Clint asked warily, "Who told you about this tracking device?"
"Ezra, of course," I replied breezily. Realisation hit me and Clint at the same time.
"EZRA!" we both shouted at the same time. She had been playing us against each other; she had always loved a good joke.
Unsurprisingly, she was nowhere to be seen.