"Thor!" Jak's voice raised to a panicked squeal. "Thor, your evil brother is here!"
"Evil? Honestly, that's a bit rude, don't you think?" Loki smirked at her.
She took another step backward, intent on running away and finding more Avengers. Before she could get far, however, the dark haired villain in front of her took her wrist and kept her from running.
"You are going to answer Dr. Foster's questions," he insisted.
"Let go of me!" She tried her best to yank her arm away from his, but he was far too strong. Without the dampening cuff on her wrist she could have easily gotten away, but as things were she didn't stand a chance of escape.
"Brother," Thor finally noticed Jak's distress, "You are scaring her. Do something to put her at ease."
Loki narrowed his eyes before smiling courteously and letting go of Jak's wrist. He waved his hand over his face and then began to shrink. He shifted into a tiny pomeranian dog and let out an excited bark, wagging his fluffball tail.
Jak loved animals, but she knew that this was no real animal. So she punted him across the room like a furry football. The dog whimpered, hit the wall, and turned back into Loki. He snarled at her and rubbed the back of his head. Jak didn't wait for him to do something awful, she just ran.
She didn't stop her mad dash until she came to Wanda's room, where she pounded on the door. After a few moments, Wanda finally answered, rubbing her eyes sleepily and wearing the cutest vintage pajama set that Jak had ever seen. She didn't dwell on the pajamas for long, choosing instead to point back the direction she'd run from and make unintelligible panicked noises.
"Calm down," Wanda said soothingly, "What is happening?"
"I fell through the floor into the ocean!" Jak exclaimed, "And then Loki showed up!"
"Is he here already? I thought he wasn't supposed to arrive until next week," Wanda yawned. She pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail. "What did you say about the ocean, Jaklyn?"
"Something freaky is going on! I need you to get down there and start magicking things!"
"I was watching on the security cameras," Vision suddenly stepped through the wall behind Jak. "It would appear that Dr. Foster, Thor, and Loki were experimenting with portals in the corridor near the lobby and Ms. Baker fell into one. Then Loki startled her and she kicked him across the room."
Wanda blinked in surprise and immediately looked at Jak's dampening cuff.
"How did you—"
"Ah, I forgot to mention that Loki had turned himself into a dog in an attempt to appear less frightening to Ms. Baker."
"Is that what he was doing?" Jak asked, "All of a sudden he was just a pomeranian. It freaked me out! And why isn't he in some sort of maximum security prison or something?!"
"He is somewhat reformed," Vision replied. "And, much like yourself, he is working with us to atone for his past misdeeds. He will be living in the Compound for the foreseeable future."
"So…" Jak took a deep breath to calm herself and pushed her wet hair out of her face, "So, he's supposed to be here? And you guys aren't going to kick his butt?"
"I think I've been kicked enough, thank you," Loki and Thor, followed by Jane—who was looking at a computer of some sort and not paying much attention—came striding down the hall. Jak immediately tensed and did her best to avoid eye contact.
"Our deepest apologies to this janitor for scaring her so badly," Thor nodded at Jak.
"I am so sorry," Jane looked up, "I thought that if we messed around with the equipment at night then we would have less chance of disturbing anyone. Thor didn't mention a night cleaning crew."
"No crew," Jak huffed and straightened her jumpsuit. "Just me."
"Jaklyn," Wanda put a hand on her shoulder, "Do you need medical attention? You are still trembling."
"I'm fine, thanks. Just… shaken. I think I am going to go to my room and call Mr. Stark."
Thor winced. "I'd rather you didn't, janitor. Tony is already peeved with me for the runes the Bifrost left in the garden. He will be most displeased to learn that I nearly lost him his servant—err, employee."
"Don't worry Mr. Thor," Jak shoved her shaking hands in her pockets, "I won't tell him about that. I'm just going to ask him to convince my parole officer to let me go back to the city. It's, uh, getting crowded around here."
Wanda drew her closer and lowered her voice. "Because of him?" She nodded at Loki.
"Yeah, something like that."
"He is here to redeem himself, like you are. I was thinking he could help me with my powers. Maybe he could do the same for you."
"So you are Wanda Maximoff then?" Loki asked, suddenly very close to them.
Jak took a startled step away from him.
"Give them space, brother! They are having a private conversation."
"About me."
"You are being rude," Thor said in a warning tone.
"Did Ms. Maximoff just imply that you are magically inclined, janitor?" Loki's gaze flew from Wanda and tore into Jak with such intensity that she couldn't find any words.
She opted for shaking her head and hurrying away from him. She collected her cleaning cart from where she'd left it, locked it in the custodial closet and decided to put the whole situation behind her for the night. In the morning, she planned to call Tony Stark and have him transfer her to another location where she could finish out her probation in relative peace. Without unsettling handsome Asgardian criminals popping up and turning themselves into dogs or dropping her in the ocean.
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