"Don't push her too hard today. She's already unsure of herself, she doesn't need to overdo it. Make sure you encourage her. She probably didn't get any positive reinforcement from her mom so -"
"Captain, I'm not going to be a heartless drill sergeant," Loki sneered, taking a sip of coffee as he and Steve Rogers both ate breakfast. Thor was on the other side of the room, building a tower using bagels for bricks and cream cheese for mortar. Vision was at the stove, scrambling some eggs for Wanda. Everyone else was either still sleeping or training.
"He's not a bad teacher," Wanda piped up. She was aimlessly levitating a salt and pepper shaker in the air, twirling them around each other as if they were dancing. "And I will be there to make sure he is nice to Jak on her first day of magic lessons."
"She won't be having any lessons if Colonel Rhodes doesn't agree to deactivate her cuff," Loki impatiently tapped his fork on the counter, "Where is he anyway?"
"He and Tony are talking about suit modifications in the armory," Steve said, setting his own fork down and crossing his arms. Loki mimicked his pose just to be petty.
"I suppose it doesn't matter. Jak is not yet awake either."
"How do you know?" Steve asked suspiciously.
"He's spying on her," Thor said as he added the last bagel brick to his construction.
"What?"
"I'm not spying on her," Loki glared at his brother, "I'm protecting her."
"How?" The good Captain demanded.
"He cast a spell on her bedroom door," Thor grinned at Loki, pleased to be giving away all of his secrets. "He knows when she comes and goes and can get a sense of what she's doing. So he can't see her, but he knows what she's up to."
"That is creepy," Wanda frowned, dropping the salt and pepper shakers, "Loki, you have to undo it."
"Until the kidnapper is caught and dealt with, I intend to protect my student in any way I see fit," Loki sneered, wondering how in the nine realms he was going to keep them from telling Jak about his spell on her door. He knew it was not exactly the proper way to go about keeping her safe, but he couldn't sit outside her door at all times. And it wasn't as if he was watching her dress or anything. He was just aware of when she was awake or sleeping or if she was in danger.
"Wanda is your student as well," Vision finished cooking the scrambled eggs and turned to glare at Loki. Though the robot man hardly looked threatening in his navy blue sweater and khakis with a floral apron over top, the Infinity Stone in his head was more than enough reason to fear him.
"Wanda is also fully capable of using her magic in a combat setting," Loki replied nervously. He did not want to upset the witch or the powerful robot who pined for her. "She is more than capable of protecting herself. Jak has limited access to her power and we know an assassin of some sort is actively trying to kidnap her."
"I'm going to tell her," Wanda said, "And if she tells you to take the spell off her door, you are going to take the spell off her door."
"You know that she will," Loki pointed out.
"And if you know it too then perhaps you should not have cast the spell in the first place," Wanda stood up, ignoring the plate of eggs that Vision offered her.
"Loki, she almost left the Compound because you moved in, she doesn't want you following her every move," Steve said, also standing.
Loki rolled his eyes and picked up his fork again. He took another bite of his food and then leaned back in his chair. He smiled at Steve.
"Of course not, but I'm sure she's just delighted that the man who killed her father is cornering her at night and waltzing with her. Or watching her on security footage over and over again. I'm sure that makes her feel safe."
"She told you about her father?" Steve asked, muscles tensing as if he were about to start a fight. Loki almost hoped he would. Being on shaky legal ground as it was, Loki couldn't risk throwing a punch himself, but no one could blame him for defending himself.
"Last night."
The spell on Jak's door triggered Loki's senses. She was awake and headed toward the kitchen. He had about two minutes to make Steve into the villain. That, or create a distraction intriguing enough to make everyone in the room forget to tell her about the spell on her door.
"I didn't corner her," Steve was saying, "She was dancing and I was checking up on her. How did you even-?"
"She's not a replacement for your lost lady love," Loki said, doing his best to sound righteous and accusatory.
Wanda furrowed her brow and glanced at Steve.
"What?" The good Captain looked as if he'd had the wind knocked out of him. Loki would have smiled, but he didn't want to spoil his game.
"Thor, Jane, and I spent a bit of time at the Smithsonian Museum," Loki said, "There was a display about one Margaret 'Peggy' Carter. And a quote about needing a 'raincheck for that dance'."
Everyone in the room went deathly quiet and Loki knew that he had tripped the exact right or the exact wrong wire. Steve stepped forward and grabbed the front of Loki's tunic.
"Maybe you should keep your mouth shut about things you don't know anything about."
Oh this was even better than he'd planned.
"Jaklyn is not a second chance with Agent Carter," Loki replied calmly, "I won't have you treating her like it."
"You don't know what you're talking about and I suggest you stop talking."
Good, honorable, noble Captain America had never looked so livid and Loki was all too happy to make matters worse.
"I understand why she appeals to you. She was alive then. She knows what the world was like before you went in the ice. But you can't substitute her for your Peggy just because of shared life experience. It's time to move on, Captain."
Steve punched him in the eye right as Jak walked into the kitchen.
"What the hell is going on?!" She yelped, jumping back.
Thor carefully pulled Steve away from Loki, though his glare was meant for his brother. The Crown Prince of Asgard was sharper than most people gave him credit for. Loki would, doubtless, have a bit of an argument with Thor later, but for now he pressed his fingers to his eye as if it hurt.
Actually, it did hurt a bit. He'd forgotten how strong that serum made Captain America.
"Don't you dare talk about Peggy," Steve pointed, Thor still holding his shoulder to keep him back, "You don't know anything about it."
"I know regret when I see it," Loki countered, "And the look on your face when you watch her," he gestured to Jak, who looked ready to run, "is not a look of someone falling in love, it is a look of regretting missed opportunities. You don't care about Jaklyn. You just miss Peggy."
Loki hadn't meant to play therapist, but the stricken look on Steve's face told him that he might have hit a little too close to the truth. The Captain took a deep breath and clenched his fists. He took one more lunging step toward Loki and poked him in the chest. His voice was nearly a snarl when he said:
"I'm not playing mind games with you, so stop trying to get in my head."
And then he left, briskly nodding at Jak as he passed her, but not responding when she asked him what had happened. As soon as Steve was gone, with Thor following after, Jak's too keen purple eyes turned on Loki. He avoided eye contact as he nursed his bruising eye.
"Was that fight about me?" She asked.
"It wasn't meant to be a fight," Loki responded, "I was just… making a point."
"Wanda?" Jak turned to her friend.
"It was about you," she confirmed. "Also, Loki put a spell on your bedroom door."
"What kind of spell?"
"It is for your protection," Loki replied, hoping she'd leave it at that. Of course, she did not do any such thing.
"What exactly does it do?"
Wanda told her everything that Thor had relayed.
"Dammit Loki, get rid of it," Jak ordered, "You can't just spy on me!"
"I'm not, I'm monitoring the room to make sure the assassin doesn't get to you."
"Why did I stay here?" She pressed her hand to her forehead and groaned, "A factory job would have been so much more peaceful."
"And the assassin would have gotten you so much more easily," Loki pointed out.
"Maybe he wouldn't have been after me at all if I didn't mess around with the Avengers," she looked up at Wanda, "I'm going to do maintenance on the roof. Make sure he doesn't follow me up there."
Wanda nodded.
"The roof?" Loki asked, immediately wary.
"Since I was able to sleep last night, I have plenty of energy. I don't do roof maintenance at night so this is the perfect time. If you follow me up there, I'll push you off," she threatened.
"This is the thanks I get for keeping you safe?" He challenged.
"I can't deal with you right now," she left the room and Wanda blocked Loki from following her. He scowled and sat back down.
"Give her space," the witch suggested.
"Of course," he replied.
As soon as Wanda let down her guard, he planned on going straight to the roof. He would spew whatever heartfelt apology he needed to in order to calm Jak down. He'd make all the amends that he could, teach her a lesson in magic, and maybe even lie about taking the spell off her door.
And poor Captain America would think twice before initiating any sort of romantic interaction between himself and Jak. Loki had made it so Steve would no longer be able to think about courting Jaklyn without wondering if he was trying to replace Agent Carter.
Despite the black eye, it turned out to be a decent breakfast. Certainly productive.
A note from the author: I'm just imagining Thor, Cap, and Loki like the meme of the woman pointing at the white cat. Loki is the embodiment of the meme sometimes with all the trouble he stirs up.
Thanks so much for reading! I very much appreciate you sticking with the story this long!
Special thanks to zxnightfox and ChiTown4ever for your reviews! Love, love, love hearing from you and I'm so glad you are looking forward to the coming chapters. I hope they meet your expectations! :)
Until next time!