When the black Stark Industries vehicle pulled up to the Compound after the hearing the next day, Jak, Thor, Tony, and Rhodey got out and made their way in. Jak ignored Steve and Loki both watching her from the lobby and went to Wanda instead. She grinned and pulled back her sleeve to display the dampening cuff still on her wrist. Colonel Rhodes took a device out of his pocket, entered a code, and the lights of the cuff turned off.
Wanda clapped in excitement and pulled Jak into a hug.
"Congratulations!"
"Thanks!" Jak replied breathlessly, her hair began to float behind her and her skin took on a faint pink glow. "Whoa…"
"You are pink," Wanda said, pulling back and pursing her lips, "Are you supposed to be?"
"Um," Jak smoothed her hair and took a few deep breaths to dispel the glow, "It's fine. I'm just out of practice. Huh. That didn't happen at the hearing. Thank goodness."
The parole board had asked her to display her magic without the cuff so that they could gauge her control. She hadn't had any problems then, casting small spells and relishing the feeling of her magic being accessible again. It had been a few years since she'd been able to use it and she hadn't realized until then that she'd missed it. With access to her power once again, she felt stronger, healthier.
"You are excited," Wanda said, squeezing her shoulder, "I'm sure that is all."
Jak's hair began floating again and she anxiously glanced at Colonel Rhodes. Deemed the "most responsible" and "least likely to commit treason" of all the Avengers, he'd been put in charge of monitoring and moderating her magic usage. He was chatting with Tony and Thor and not paying attention to her anymore.
Jak tugged at her ponytail and practiced her breathing until she felt the wave of magic lessen. She could feel the power drumming against her ribcage in time with her heart, but refused to let it out right away. The last time she'd been in control of her magic, she hadn't actually been in control. Her mother used her own abilities to keep Jak from hurting anyone. Or, more accurately, to only hurt certain people. Her magic had been little more than a puppet under her parents' control for her whole life. When she'd finally broken free and helped the Avengers fight her own mother, she had only been able to use her magic for a few short hours before federal agents cuffed her and kept her from finding out what exactly she could do on her own.
Dread built up in her stomach as she realized that she was about to find out exactly what she could do. She knew spells, but her mother had always helped her, channeling everything. Could she even do anything without that conduit? Or would the power overwhelm her? Worse, what if she barely had any magic at all? What if all she'd ever done was steal a bit of her mom's power and make some flashing lights?
"Don't worry," Wanda told her in a quiet voice, "We will learn together. You'll do great. Do not let the nerves overtake you and ruin this exciting moment."
Jak nodded. She didn't think Wanda had read her mind directly, but she'd certainly picked up her emotions. Her hair had picked up her emotions too, it seemed, as now it was standing straight up and her skin was glowing again. She breathed deep and let Wanda soothe her… until Steve and Loki approached and made her anxious again.
"How did the hearing go?" Steve asked, smiling at her and politely ignoring the way her hair moved up and down as if it were underwater.
"It was great," she told him, "The lawyer Mr. Stark got for me was super great and Thor wore that stupid t-shirt to cheer me on."
She gestured over to Thor, who was wearing a t-shirt he'd designed himself. It read "Emotional Support Superhero" followed by a picture of Thor himself giving a thumbs up. Despite barely knowing Jak, he'd been a great help in keeping her calm and had even told the parole board that he was certain she was "totally mentally stable and much less likely to stab someone than my brother". The parole board had asked a few questions about Loki and the idea of him teaching her magic and Thor quickly amended that Loki hardly ever stabbed anyone these days and definitely didn't encourage others to stab people either. He showed them a picture on his phone of him and Loki, arms wrapped around each other, smiling. They looked like a couple of completely average, happy brothers in the photo, but Jak knew they'd argued for half an hour right before the picture and only took it to make Loki look more reformed. She appreciated the effort, even if Loki had nearly stabbed Thor in the process.
"Not to toot my own horn, but I did submit a full report to Agent Woo, telling him that I thought you should be allowed to have your magic back," Steve told her, a hint of pride in his voice that he quickly squashed with humility. "But I'm sure it was you yourself that convinced them in the end. Anyone can just look at you and see that you are in a much better place than you were a few years ago."
"Thanks," she blushed, though it wasn't exactly a compliment. Her blush must have annoyed Loki because he quickly butted into the conversation.
"Now we'll get to see what you're really made of, hmm?" He caught her hair in his hand and wound it around his fingers before securing it to the back of her head with a conjured emerald pin. She didn't have time to thank or scold him before he wiggled his fingers in her direction and she felt a spell fall over her.
"What are you doing?" She demanded, taking a step back.
"Just gauging what we have to work with," he twisted his wrist and his spell ripped away from her. He must have liked whatever it was that he learned because he caught her hand and brushed a kiss to the back of her knuckles. "You and I are going to have quite a bit of fun it would seem."
"Let her rest before you get right to training," Steve protested, crossing his arms. "She's had a busy day and she was up all night."
"The sooner we start, the better. With that assassin still out there, don't you think she ought to be able to protect herself?" Loki challenged, hand still holding Jak's hand, grip tightening possessively.
"Of course, but he's not going to attack today. Start tomorrow. She needs to eat and then go to bed. She won't be able to learn anything on an empty stomach with a foggy head."
Jak was going to say that with all of the adrenaline from having her magic back, she hardly had a foggy head, but Loki spoke again instead.
"As the one who will actually be teaching her, I think I will be the judge of when she is ready to learn. And I say the sooner the better, right Jaklyn?" He turned to her with an expectant and triumphant smile.
"Um, well," she didn't particularly want to start lessons right away. She wanted some time alone, with her magic. She wanted to get to know herself again. Feel the power and see what she remembered before probably embarrassing herself in front of Loki.
"Vis and I made a congratulatory cake," Wanda piped up, gently swatting Loki's hand so he let go of Jak. "I think we will all eat some cake and then let Jak have some time to herself. Then she can decide when she is ready."
"Of course," Steve nodded at Jak, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bark orders."
"Well, what can I expect from a captain?" Jak teased, "It's alright."
"Foolish of me not to think of letting you have a moment alone," Loki conceded, though he didn't apologize, "Let us try the cake the robot and the witch baked."
"Did someone say there was cake?" Natasha arrived in the lobby with a balloon in hand. She gave the balloon, which read "You Did It!" in bubble letters, to Jak.
"Cake?" Thor popped up like a prairie dog and soon all of the Avengers made their way to the kitchen to eat. Though Vision occasionally had slip ups in the kitchen due to the fact that he could not taste, the hazelnut and chocolate cake was delicious. Jak was even able to swipe an extra slice before Thor ate it all.
Just as she bit into the second slice, she felt a belch building in her throat. Raised to be a polite young lady of society, she pressed her napkin to her mouth and did her best to contain the burp. Her magic had other ideas and when she burped, a wave of magenta colored energy burst from her mouth and cracked the countertop. This startled her so badly that she accidentally released another wave of energy in defense and knocked over all of the barstools that they were sitting on. Everyone, save herself, ended up on the floor, staring at her.
"Jaklyn…" Rhodey said warily, "You doing okay there?"
"Y-yeah," she replied shakily, "I'm so sorry. I didn't… it was an accident."
Wanda and Loki exchanged looks. Steve and Rhodey looked at each other as well. Thor was wiping cake off of his t-shirt, but smiled up at her assuringly.
"No harm done. When we were children, Loki would sometimes get terrible gas and every time he farted nearby windows would shatter!" The big blond laughed.
Loki scowled. "At least I never accidentally set the stables on fire by sneezing out a lightning bolt."
"When my brother first got his powers," Wanda said quietly, "He ran straight into a wall and broke three bones."
"My first time with the wings, I knocked over my commanding officer," Sam Wilson rubbed his forehead as he began righting barstools, "And I cracked a bunch of computer screens in the testing zone."
"Ha!" Mr. Stark piped up, "I forgot about atmospheric icing with altitude increase. Plummeted a thousand feet, free falling. I was almost roadkill in a very expensive suit."
"Forgot about atmospheric icing," Vision scoffed, "Forgive me, but I believe Jarvis alerted you to the icing and warned you to turn around, to which your response was 'keep going'."
"Forgot, ignored, to-may-to, tah-mah-to," Tony waved the matter away and winked at Jak, "Point is, we've all had dangerous accidents, kid. Your burps aren't going to kill us."
"I hope not," Jak sighed, "I don't even know what I can do without my mother. I've never done this on my own before."
"You are not on your own," Loki said firmly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But when I'm done with you, you'll be able to take care of yourself if you ever do find yourself alone."
"Colonel Rhodes, can you turn the cuff back on?" Jak asked, "Just while we're eating?"
"You got it."
They enjoyed the rest of their cake, all of them talking and laughing about some of their worst screw ups as superheroes. It made Jak feel somewhat better, but she still knew that they were all nervous about what she could do. They'd seen her as an enemy before and most of them had not taken the time to actually get to know her until recently. Hell, despite asking Steve to dance the night before, she realized that before Loki arrived, she'd been actively avoiding all of them. Not because they disliked her, but because she couldn't shake the feeling that they didn't trust her. And even though they were friendly now, and she was friendly back, she still felt the unease and the judging eyes. Would they ever be able to see her as just the janitor and not the person who invaded their home and tried to kill them?
"It takes time," Wanda whispered, once again getting inside her head, "Helping them defeat an evil robot intent on destroying mankind doesn't hurt either."
"I'll keep that in mind for the next evil robot," Jak smiled slightly, her nerves easing a fraction. "Or alien warlord."
"Perhaps we can convince Loki to pull a stunt and have you save the day," Wanda teased. "Though I don't know that he'd do anything to help you be in Steve's good graces."
"Are you talking about me?" Loki asked from the otherside of the kitchen. "I thought I heard my name and my ears are burning."
"Why would we talk about you?" Wanda called back, "You already insert yourself into every conversation."
Loki rolled his eyes and moved closer. He must have noticed Jak's anxious expression because he smiled warmly at her. It was, perhaps, the first smile she'd seen from him that wasn't hiding ulterior motives.
"If they can trust Bruce Banner to hold his beast back, and if they can let me share a living space with them after what I did, they can get used to your magic. Whether you can control it right away or not," he said it in such a low voice that only Jak and Wanda could possibly have heard him, "And if they can't, I watched Colonel Rhodes put the code in the remote so all I have to do is steal it and the three of us can become a wicked coven and take over the world together."
"Does this mean we're a club?" Jak laughed, trying to hide her blush, "The Magic Users Who Used to be Enemies of the Avengers Club? We should get jackets. I've never been part of a club before."
"We are a club," Wanda decided, "And I am the club president."
"You are the youngest!" Loki protested.
"Beauty before age," Jak said, her worries beginning to fade.
"I beg your pardon, but I am the oldest and the most beautiful," Loki gasped in fake offense, "And I know the most about magic!"
"You're also the most arrogant," Jak teased. "Which, I've heard, is almost a requirement for politicians. Maybe he should be president."
"No, no," Wanda gathered red magic in her fingertips, "I will be president. Or I'll be forced to change your minds the hard way."
"You can be president," both Loki and Jak decided at once.
All three of them broke into laughter, drawing attention from the other Avengers. When Tony asked what was so funny, they laughed even more. Jak's fear of her power vanished completely for the time being. It was hard to be afraid when she had such powerful allies.
A note from the author: Yay! Time for magical shenanigans!
Thanks for reading and special thanks to zxnightfox for your reviews! I was starting to lose interest in this story, but when I saw your review I got excited again so hopefully I'll be able to get more chapters posted soon! :)
Until next time!