"I thought you said you had better things to do than watch me run on a treadmill," Saniya panted. The sweat running down her face made her more of a puddle than a human being.

Natasha began to carry several large weights to the bench press. "I do," she answered. "This isn't just your gym."

Clint came in soon after in a tank top with sweat stains and maybe a little bit of blood. Together, they were a team that could communicate without words. Natasha laid on the bench press while Clint spotted her. Her jaw drop as Natasha lifted an impressive amount of weight. It had to be more than she actually weighed and she was acting it like it was nothing. If Marsha was here, she'd probably faint because, dang, that woman was strong.

When she nearly fell on her face from staring, Saniya knew that was a good time to take a break. She stepped off the treadmill and clawed at the cramp festering in her side. Just to make sure it wasn't her ribs, she lifted her damp shirt. The bruises were starting to fade and barely hurt if she poked them.

Saniya wiped the extra sweat beading on her forehead. She smelt like a pigsty. There was nothing she wanted more than to hop into a shower to wash everything away. But, unfortunately, she could only wash the sweat and dirt off, not the doubts Loki put into her mind. They kept knocking into the front of her brain every time she tried to forget.

What if her perception of everything was biased? What if Marsha and Indali were given gifts instead of curses? They were horrible at first glance, but what if there was something she wasn't seeing? She didn't actually believe that, especially after Marsha's panic attack and Indali's murderous actions, but the doubts were there to stay.

"I know not where to find Lady Frimia. She has always been, ah, flighty," Thor told her. "Perhaps I can return to Asgard to see if she had returned recently."

Saniya grabbed his hand, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Jane. "You can't leave. You just got back!" she protested.

Jane raised a steamy mug of coffee up to her lips. "Maybe you should go," she said. Thor furrowed his brows with thought. "You promised me you would take me to Asgard one day. I want to go."

Thor glanced at Jane and Saniya, confused by the vicious glares they were giving each other. He rested a hand on Jane. "We will speak of this later," he promised. "But, Lady Frimia has been known to disappear for decades at a time. I fear we will not know of her whereabouts in your lifetime."

Her foot tapped violently against the floor. "What about that all-seeing guy? Heimile?"

The faintest of smiles lifted on his face. "Heimdall. Lady Frimia, not unlike my brother, can sometimes shield herself from his gaze. Perhaps I could leave for a few days with Jane to speak with him. It would not be a guarantee that he will see her, though."

Saniya shook her head, then mentally berated herself for being so quick to do so. "No, you should stay here. It's not that important. Really, it's not."

"Lady Saniya—"

"I don't want you to leave, okay?" she interrupted. "You're literally one of my only friends and I don't want you to leave me."

Thor's eyes softened. "I would never dream of doing so, Lady Saniya."

Further into the night, they had discussed if Frimia could take away gifts or not. Thor pretty much sided with Loki on that subject. Sure, he didn't call her ungrateful, but he was disapproving. These gifts seemed to be the highest honor a "mortal" could have.

But ungrateful wasn't the only thing Loki called her. He called her narrow-minded under his breath when they were discussing her abilities. Then, to confuse her more, he said that with the right guide she could do great things. Did that mean she could do more than turn back time? She already had by freezing time momentarily and such, but how far could she take it?

Saniya was never one to expand her abilities. They had been perfect the way they were, so she had no reason to be stronger. Now she was wondering if she could be better, if she could be... powerful.

"You're giving me a headache just looking at you," Clint said. Natasha rested the bar on a pair of hooks and sat up, looking as refreshed as she did when she walked into the gym.

"I'm just thinking," Saniya grumbled. She jammed a granola bar into her mouth then chewed like it had personally wronged her.

"Yeah, I could see that. A little too much in my opinion." He watched her for several moments before speaking again. "Chin up, kid. Don't let him get you down. He plays with you on purpose. Gets in your head." Clint winced. "For me, literally, so I get it."

"Me too," she said without thinking. Natasha and Clint stared at her with widening eyes. "I... he... it's not a big deal."

Natasha rose to her feet, making her way over to her. "What'd he do? We never heard the specifics."

Her mouth curved into a frown. For a moment, she wondered whether the Black Widow's concern was sincere or if there was a darker motive. But when Natasha rested her arm on her shoulders, it didn't matter anymore. Somebody was listening to her. Someone that she wouldn't be worried about scaring, like Marsha. And despite SHIELD and Natasha skipping hand in hand, she found herself trusting her, quite a change from when they first met.

"He looked at my memories. He got into my mind because of the stupid astral projection thing and used my ability against me."

"Ah, yes," Clint sighed. "The mystery ability you have."

She tilted her head with a faint smile. "I'm sure you guys have figured it out already."

Natasha patted her shoulder. "For the most part," she said with no further explanation. One delicate eyebrow raised. "What else did he do to you? He said something, didn't he?"

Saniya smacked her knees with her hands. "Can we not talk about this anymore?" she said suddenly. "I just want to move on and forget it ever happened. I've done all my complaining with Thor and am through talking about Loki."

Clint lifted his hands. "If that's what you want." He paused in his walk back to the bench press. "Our door is always open, not literally, though. We lock it now because of your midnight walks, but what I mean is that we'll listen. I probably more than anyone knows what it's like to have someone else poking around in your head."

She blinked away her watering eyes, either made from frustration at Loki or how touched she was by the offer. "Thanks. You guys are awesome." Saniya swung her feet under her, the bottoms of her shoes scraping against the ground. "I need to feel clean again, so I'll see you guys at lunch. Have fun working out."

As her finger pressed the elevator button, Natasha's hand curled around her wrist. "Loki is good at making people doubt themselves." And when the breath drained out of Saniya was when Natasha knew she hit the bullseye. "Don't sell yourself short."

Saniya nearly smiled when she remembered dream Bruce saying the same thing. "I'm not," she argued weakly. Natasha wasn't convinced. "I said I'm not." She took a hesitant step into the elevator. The assassin's hand dropped. "I don't remember if I ever thanked you for agreeing to be my trainer."

"That isn't something I need to be thanked for," she said. "It's my duty."

The beating of her foot was oddly calming as she struggled to find the right words. "You have to have a good reason for training someone who isn't dedicated to being SHIELD. So, for whatever that is, thanks."

A strange expression took over Natasha's features like she ate a lemon and was forcing her face to stay neutral. "There are people here who care about you," she replied.

"And SHIELD cares about the people who care about me. I get it. You're keeping the important people happy."

Natasha watched her with sharp eyes, maybe expecting a violent reaction or, at least, an argument about her intentions being less than pure. But, nothing happened except for Saniya almost smiling at the joy of people actually caring about her. Someone cared enough to force SHIELD to cooperate. That was a nice feeling, one she wouldn't easily forget.

She stepped into the elevator. "See you at lunch."

"Wait."

Jarvis was enough of a dear to not close the elevator doors in the middle of their conversation, but Natasha still held her hand against the metal to keep the doors from closing

"Do you remember the body you found in the car?"

The better question would be how could she forget? The brief panic on her face was a good enough answer to that.

Natasha shifted on her feet. "We found his family in Austria. He'll get that burial you cared so much about."

An easy smile rose to her lips that even made Natasha grin a bit. "Finally, SHIELD does one thing right."

The assassin laughed at that. "Go wash off. You smell like a sewer."

She wrinkled her nose. "Trust me, I know. Jarvis!"

"Of course, miss. I will have it running by the time you reach your bathroom."

Saniya sighed with contentment. Things were going quite well today.

"Scarlett Johansson," Marsha sighed, a shade of pink on her cheeks. She stared off for a second before looking at Saniya.

"Harrison Ford," Saniya said without hesitation. Her head tilted. "But, like young Harrison in his Indiana Jones days." The briefest flash of the celebrity cracking a whip was enough to get her hot under the collar.

Marsha rested her chin on her hands. "What about you?" she asked Steve.

"Ginger Rogers. She was one pretty dame, er, woman."

Being born way past Steve's time, she had no idea who that was, but she imagined she was gorgeous. "And, if you hypothetically marry her, she'd keep her last name. Very convenient," Saniya said.

Marsha nodded. "She wouldn't have to order new checkbooks or anything."

Saniya sipped on her lemonade thoughtfully. "Steve," she began, "if you marry anyone, will you make them take your last name?"

Steve frowned. "If you had asked me back during the war, I think I would have said yes. It was tradition for the woman to take the man's name. It still sort of is." He paused, then nodded definitively. "I don't think I would be comfortable if they didn't at least have one of those hyphenated last names, but it would be her choice."

"I see; you still gotta pee on what's yours." The super soldier looked less than pleased of how she put it. "There's no way I'm getting married, so, Marsha? Who would have whose name?"

Marsha shrugged. "It depends on whether my name sounds good with her name or not."

"I think I'll have my future husband take my last name just to go against everyone's expectations," a voice behind them said. They all turned to see Pepper standing in a crisp business suit, looking like she was worth a fortune.

Steve nodded towards her. "You might have to rethink that. Tony Potts doesn't sound very nice together. Sort of clashes."

Pepper wrinkled her nose when she heard her boyfriend's name with her name attached. "I think I agree with you on that, actually. He can keep his last name." Saniya, who had been trying to sink in her chair, straightened when Pepper's eyes fell on her. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Saniya stood and followed her to the hallway. Pepper rubbed her hands together and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Before she could get a word out, Saniya was quick to throw Tony under the bus.

"I'm really sorry about the plates," she rushed. "It was Tony's idea and I only went along with it because I didn't know they were yours. If I had, I would have told him no. It was very wrong to destroy your things."

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Tony said you were an active participant in the plate smashing and helped smuggle them from our floor."

Her mouth curved into an 'o'. Stupid Tony had sold her out. To be honest, that was what she was planning to do to him, but she chose to overlook that fact. "I mean... I..." Saniya sagged her shoulders. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about," Pepper said, though no doubt she'd bring the plates up later. If she didn't know any better, she would say that Pepper looked embarrassed. "I have a package being delivered today and I would really, really appreciate if you picked it up from the front desk."

"What? That makes no sense. I don't have access to the lobby and don't you have people to bring your packages up for you?"

Pepper was avoiding eye contact, instead absently thumbing the papers on her clipboard. "Happy usually does, but it's a... special package and I don't want him asking questions." She waved her hand, as if what she just said wasn't suspicious at all. "Plus, ever since he's been made Head of Security, he's been on edge. It'll calm him down if he can put a face to the name Tony told him about." Pepper ruffled through her papers to pull out a plastic card with a clip on the end. "Here's your security badge. Make sure he sees you wearing it."

Saniya clipped it on the collar of her shirt. "So, you want me to intercept whoever Happy is to get your package?" Pepper nodded. "What's in it?"

She let loose a nervous laugh. "It's... well... Tony thinks we have a problem with intimacy and that's why our relationship has been a bit rough. And at this point, I'm willing to try anything." Her cheeks were turning a peculiar shade of pink. "He got a little carried away and ordered some things we don't normally use."

There was a moment of silence before she burst into a huge, knowing smirk. "That'll be fun. I'm happy for you guys, honestly."

When Pepper heard those words, filled with support rather that judgment, she relaxed. Her smile was natural now instead of the stiff mask from before. "It's something new."

She was starting to walk towards the elevator, Pepper only a few steps behind. "I'll get your box." There was a small pep in her step. "I'm actually really excited for you guys. The right stuff can make the bedroom awesome."

"That's what Tony said too, but I have a feeling he was just trying to convince me." Saniya pressed the button. "I'm glad I have a second opinion."

Jarvis didn't say anything on the way down, but she assumed it was a one-time access to the lobby since she still fell under "prisoner" status. She considered making a break for it. SHIELD wouldn't care. She was already on their payroll and under their manipulative thumb. They could track her using whatever advanced technology they had at their disposal. Was there really a need for her to stay in the Tower?

Then again, there were two very good reasons in the floors above that kept her there.

The lobby was sleek and polished, much like Tony and Pepper's floor that she snuck a peek of. The floor was nearly reflective and minimalist paintings hung at equal intervals. She tried to remember what it looked like when Natasha first dragged her here. It was slightly different, so Pepper must have done some redecorating.

She scanned the lobby, passing over business men and women walking in and out past security. Her eyes landed on the counter with a bored secretary.

It wasn't that hard to find her package. A delivery person, holding a clipboard and a hat pulled down to hide her face stood as a man had a one-sided argument with her. The box sat on the counter looking falsely innocent.

"Where is your security badge? If you were allowed to bring it upstairs, you would have been given a badge," he said. His eyes narrowed. "What did you say your name was?"

"It's fine," she butted in. The delivery person flinched and turned her head. Saniya tried to catch a glimpse of her face, but she was determined to hide it underneath the hat. "Pepper Potts sent me to bring it up."

The man grumbled with annoyance as the delivery woman took this time to leave the package and tower behind. Saniya watched her leave while trying to place where she saw that woman before. The man turned back to her, eyes settling on the security card.

"Pepper?" He frowned. "I don't see her name anywhere on the package. How can you be sure?"

Saniya set her hand on the box. "She told me to get it, so it must be hers."

"Must be," he repeated, not as sure about it as her. He held out his hand. "I'm the Head of Security. It's nice to finally meet you."

"I'm Saniya, but I bet you already knew that."

Happy's chest puffed out the slightest bit as she grasped his hand. "Yeah, I read your security card." His smile grew stiff as he eyed the piece of plastic. "I see you don't have a picture yet. I've seen you before through the cameras, so it's not a problem with me, but," he said, "if anyone else were to come along, they'd have no idea who you are. That's a concern."

She slowly released his hand. "I stay upstairs ninety-nine percent of the time so it doesn't matter," she replied, which must not have been a good answer based on Happy's scowl.

"It's procedure that everyone has a picture on with their card."

Her fingers dug into the cardboard. "Pepper gave me the card, and she's much higher up than you on the totem pole, so I think it will be okay."

"All due respect to her, she's not the Head of Security," he said.

Saniya huffed, blowing strands of hair as she did so. "Okay. Fine. Whatever. Take my picture and get it over with."

His body, which had been coiled like a spring, relaxed. Happy gestured to the plain white wall behind the desk by the secretary doing his best to ignore them. She glared into the camera of his phone.

Happy nodded as if her picture didn't look like an angry inmate's mugshot. "I'll bring up a new card when it's ready."

He leaned against the counter, watching her with an expression she was familiar with. Saniya felt herself easing back into the role as a single ready to mingle. Sure, he pissed her off, but what harm was there in a little flirting? She needed practice to get back in the game anyways. Her failure with Bruce was a huge sign that her skills needed some fine tuning.

Plus, Happy seemed relatively uninteresting. Considering her choice of men lately, she could do with some bland.

She almost winced at her own thought process. Saniya felt like a manipulative jerk for even thinking such things. Loki had been pretty close in his evaluation of her.

He tilted his head. "Mr. Stark never mentioned what you did for him. Is it lab work, or stuff like that?"

Saniya picked up the box. "Something like that." She raised an eyebrow. "I can tell you all about it over coffee sometime."

Happy beamed, covered his mouth with a fake cough, then toned it down to a friendly, non-creepy smile. "That sounds great. Come find me when you want to. I'll be here. Probably working."

"I will," she said. "Keep us safe in the meantime, Mr. Head-of-Security."

"I'm good at my job, so you can bet on it." His eyes widened when she began to make her way to the elevators. He yanked the box out of her arms rougher than he meant to. "Let me walk you to the elevator. The after-lunch rush can be brutal."

They walked through the almost empty lobby until they reached the elevators. She got into one while Happy kept a disgruntled man from entering by pointing to his badge and repeating "Head of Security".

Saniya grabbed the box of mysterious items. "Thanks, Happy."

She was sure that if he had a hat, he'd tip it like they did in the 1800's. "You're welcome. I'm happy to help out."

The doors closed and her smile dropped. Happy was nice, but he wasn't Bruce. No matter what she thought of him, she still made plans with him. Great. She hadn't even meant to, it just slipped out. At least she'd eventually get coffee out of this whole thing.

Whatever Pepper ordered rattled in the box as they moved upwards. It sounded like metal smacking against the side, which caught her interest. What sort of stuff did she buy?

The elevator was slowing to a stop. She glanced at the floor number and frowned. It was nowhere near the floor she was meant to be at.

"Jarvis?"

"Miss Ramakrishna, please do not panic."

Her blood ran cold. That was the single worst thing he could have said to her at the moment. "I'm sort of panicking now that you said that," she said.

"You do not need to be alarmed. Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark have been notified, along with Agent Romanoff. It is pending approval of whether Mr. Hogan needs to be contacted."

"Notified of what?" Her voice was turning slightly hysterical. Jarvis picked up on that and began to play soft Classical music over the speakers. "Jarvis!" she snapped, despite the calming tune. "What is going on? I am going to go crazy if you don't tell me."

"There is an unidentifiable device in the box you are carrying. I advise you do not move if possible."

Saniya sighed. "It's probably just a vibrator, honestly, Jarvis."

"Mr. Hogan has confirmed that Ms. Potts' package has been delivered moments ago. The box you are carrying is from an unknown sender with no visible address or labeling."

Her mouth fell into a deep frown. She had picked up the wrong box. That itself wasn't a huge deal if there wasn't the looming threat of what was inside. Or the mystery person Happy argued with.

She made a huge mistake, didn't she?

Though her laugh was forced, it gave a sense of normalcy to the situation. "What's the worst that could be in here? Just bring the elevator down and I'll give it back to Happy. Maybe the delivery woman is still hanging around."

Jarvis remained silent for an unnerving amount of time. "From what I can analyze, it has a strong resemblance to an explosive device. Once again, there is no need to be alarmed."

Explosive device. A freaking bomb in simpler terms. Much like the one that blew up the hotel. And to make everything worse, she was the one who brought it further into the building. If it exploded, it was on her.

Saniya closed her eyes. "I think you should bring me up to Bruce. He might know what to do."

"I agree. SHIELD is sending an expert to the tower. It will only be ten minutes."

The elevator was moving again, much slower than usual. When the door opened, Bruce and Tony were standing on the other side.

Tony smirked but it looked forced. "So, Pepper sent you to get our special box, didn't she?"

She couldn't find it in herself to smile back. "Sorry I got a box of bombs instead of dildos."

"We don't know if it's a bomb," Bruce said, probably purposely ignoring the dildo part. "Tony, I know nothing about explosives."

"Same here." He scratched his chin. "But it couldn't hurt to take a peek at what's inside."

Bruce frowned, placing himself between her and Tony. "It could, actually. If it's rigged to go off when it's opened..."

"Kaboom," Tony finished.

"Can we please not talk about blowing up while I'm holding a bomb?" Saniya cried out. "Can I set it down? Please? Happy and I carried it just fine to the elevator without it exploding, so I should be okay."

Bruce and Tony shared a look that didn't make her feel any more confident about the situation. Saniya decided that was a resounding "no" to setting the box down

"Sir, several SHIELD agents have arrived and begun the evacuation of the building. An explosives specialist is planned to arrive in approximately five minutes."

Tony swore under his breath. "I need to watch their grubby, bug placing hands. Sit tight, Sani. Bruce'll take good care of you." He ran the fastest she had ever seen him move to the other elevator on the floor, leaving just Bruce and Saniya.

Saniya found that it was easier to cope if she kept her eyes on Bruce. He met her eyes with a tense grin. "You're going to be okay."

Instead of responding like a normal person, her mouth felt this was the perfect time to dig up dirt without permission from her brain. But, she supposed, she might as well get answers if she was trapped with him. "Am I not good enough?"

Bruce froze.

"I mean, I know I'm not smart. Definitely not on your level, and I guess I'm not the nicest person. I'm also so stubborn that I annoy myself sometimes and," She stopped. "You know what? Nevermind. I totally get why you pushed me away. I'm awful."

"Don't say that. You're not."

Saniya frowned. "Stop. I don't want you to tell me that I'm not as bad as I say I am or... or I don't know. Lately, I've been thinking about what type of person I am and, well, I'm not the best." She nodded to herself. "I'm flawed and I'm okay with that, but you deserve someone better. Maybe like a lady scientist or something."

"Saniya—"

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable and came onto you. I'm sorry," she burst out, slivers of panic finding itself back into her body. "If I get blown up by this stupid bomb, I want you to know that I get it. I'm not the type of person you're looking for."

He straightened his glasses, mouth drawn into a tight line. "Is that why you think I pushed you away?"

She blinked. "Well, yeah."

Bruce took a step towards her, conscious of the box. "We are not a good match. Ignoring this age gap between us, it isn't great a pair made in heaven."

Her face scrunched. "I know. That's what I literally was just saying."

He shook his head. "You have it backwards," Bruce said. "You put me on a pedestal I'm not worthy of. I'm dangerous—"

"Don't start with this again," she interrupted. "God, I think I got this self-deprecation thing from you and you're honestly the best man I have ever met." His mouth opened as if to argue, but she was quick to speak first. "Now I'm confused. I thought you didn't like the kiss or me. Which one is it?"

"I liked it," he replied. "It was nice, but..." Bruce drifted off when he saw her expression fall into a glower. His face became more relaxed like there wasn't a bomb and it was a light conversation. "I like both you and the kiss. You're amazing in your own way. Humans were made flawed, some more than others." He gestured to himself and that did not make Saniya happy one bit. It was one thing for her to talk bad about herself, but to hear him say things like that about himself? That was just wrong.

Causing both of them to feel like they were having a mini heart attack, the box began to beep. Saniya threw it out of her hands as Bruce yanked her towards him. Everything moved in slow motion as he shielded her with his body.

Waiting.

Nothing happened.

The box continued to beep, but there was no explosion. Even after a minute passed of them waiting for anything to happen, the box was still intact. Jarvis shut the elevator door as his own way of shielding them if anything happened.

But, nothing did.

Saniya was the first to break the silence with a mix of a sob and laugh. She grabbed his partially green face and tugged it down to hers. Unlike the first kiss, he was more responsive, one of his hands resting on her back and another on her cheek.

Bruce didn't hate her. Bruce liked her kisses. Bruce was willing to shield her with his body.

He deserved to have someone kiss his brains out, because, damn, he was one hell of a man.