She heard him follow her onto the roof, and she was tempted to do as she'd threatened and shove him over the side. But she doubted attempted murder would look very good on her record. Not that she thought he could possibly die from falling off the roof - he was too sturdy for that if he was anything like his brother - but she didn't want to risk it. Instead, she ignored him and attacked a malfunctioning air conditioning unit with a screwdriver.

Her heart was still racing from whatever had been going on in the kitchen. It wasn't like Steve to just randomly punch someone in the face. Not someone who wasn't actively threatening the free world anyway. So, Jak assumed Loki had done something to provoke the good Captain. Probably something related to Peggy.

Jak had never met Agent Margaret Carter, but she'd seen the Captain America propaganda films back in the day and heard the dramatized radio shows. She knew that Peggy had been promoted as Steve's lady love and was often made to look like a damsel in distress. Considering Peggy Carter had been one of the founders of SHIELD, Jak very much doubted the woman had ever been as helpless as the radio shows depicted her.

As far as she knew, Agent Carter was still alive, but she had to be in her nineties. Not that Jaklyn was any younger, but she was fairly certain Peggy didn't have mystery magic in her veins keeping her young.

Speaking of magic, Jak caught a whiff of it and when she looked over her shoulder, Loki was holding a small bouquet of heather flowers and smiling apologetically at her. She didn't buy the innocent look for one second and she quickly turned back to her work on the air conditioner.

"I didn't mean for that conversation to escalate the way that it did," Loki commented.

"Yes you did," she scoffed.

He chuckled and set the flowers on top of the air conditioner then crouched next to her.

"You're right. I did."

"Go away or I might forget my manners and knock you off the roof."

"My apology flowers will not soothe you in the least?" He asked.

"Maybe if they were accompanied by a genuine apology they would," she picked up the flowers and threw them to the breeze. They didn't make it all the way off the roof before getting stuck in a corner. "But you aren't actually sorry, are you?"

He was quiet in response, which was basically affirming what she'd just said. She sighed heavily and set down her screwdriver. She sat on the ground and stared at him, trying to figure out what to do with the mush of emotions battling in her brain.

"I am genuinely sorry that I've made you mad at me, if that helps," he offered, sitting down as well and stretching out his long legs in front of him.

"It doesn't."

"Thought as much," he nodded. "I can't regret trying to protect you, though.

"I'm not sure I see the correlation between riling Steve up and protecting me," she frowned. "Even if he's still in love with Peggy, he isn't going to hurt me."

"I meant the spell I put on your door," Loki said hesitantly. She'd nearly forgotten about that offense, but now that he'd brought it up, she had questions.

"What exactly does the spell do? You aren't… watching me, are you? Seeing me sleep? Get dressed?" She wondered how many times she'd picked her nose since he'd bespelled her door. Had he seen that?

"It is not a spying spell," he told her, "I can only get a feeling for your aura and energy. If you are in the room, if you are awake, if you are scared or in danger."

"Hmm," she tapped the screwdriver head on the cool surface of the roof. "Not peeping in on me then?"

"No," he replied firmly, and then his oily smile slid into place, "I could caste a different sort of spell if you wanted me to-"

"Loki," she snapped, pointing her screwdriver at him menacingly and he put his hands up.

"Only if you want me to!"

"Don't. You're on thin ice as it is," she lowered her tool and sighed, "The current spell can stay. But no new spells without asking me first."

He blinked in surprise. "You'll let me keep the spell?"

"Are there reasons I shouldn't?" She challenged, "Do you have nefarious plans in the works?"

"Oh I always have some machination brewing," he waved the matter away, "But none for you, my dear. Well… none that are particularly nefarious anyway."

"That's not reassuring," she said, but couldn't help a small laugh. She wasn't particularly upset about the door. It was sort of endearing in a way, that he wanted to keep her safe. Truth be told, she was still terrified that the assassin might find a way to get to her. At least now she knew that someone would come to her aid if she needed it. It was unlikely that the assassin could turn off a magical spell the way he'd turned off the security cameras and deactivated Friday.

She was still annoyed with Loki for angering Steve to the point of violence, but she supposed she could somewhat understand that too. Part of it was her fault. She was not being particularly clear with either man about her feelings. Mostly because she wasn't certain of them herself, but she had known the situation between the three of them was bubbling into something potentially volatile and she hadn't done anything about it.

At the moment, however, she didn't want to talk to Steve and she didn't feel like talking about feelings with Loki either. Not after everything she'd shared the night before. Not after he'd given her his jacket to use as a blanket. Not after he'd made Steve mad enough to hit him. Right then, she just wanted to fix the stupid A/C unit.

Until Loki made a different suggestion.

"I hope you didn't forget in all of the excitement this morning that I owe you your first magic lesson," he said as she resumed her work. She looked up at him.

"That's true. You do owe me after all the answers I gave you last night. I practically told you my life story!" She joked, wondering if she could possibly convince him that her father's death and the weirdly cursed quilt were the most interesting things about her history.

"I'll make it an especially long lesson then," he promised, jumping to his feet and giving the A/C a kick. Something clicked into place and when she reassembled it, the damned thing worked perfectly.

"If part of the lesson is how to fix air conditioners with just a kick, I'm all ears," she gaped at him.

"That was just luck," he chuckled, helping her to her feet, "Text Colonel Rhodes. Have him unleash your magic and I'll show you how to do something really impressive."

"Here on the roof?"

"Why not? I promise I won't let you fall if that's what scares you," he was still holding her hand from helping her up and he gave it a gentle squeeze that sent goosebumps all along her arms.

She turned away and quickly texted Rhodey. He responded with a thumbs up and a moment later, the lights went out on her cuff. Her hair began floating above her immediately and when she looked at her hands, she saw that her skin was glowing pink again. Embarrassed at her lack of control, she quickly smoothed the hair down and ducked her head. She took a few deep breaths and was able to get herself under control in a matter of seconds.

When she looked at Loki, he was studying her carefully.

"What's our first lesson?" She asked, shifting her weight awkwardly.

"Why does your hair do that?" He stepped closer and picked up her ponytail, running his fingers through it. "And why does your skin glow? Has it always done that when you use magic?"

"Well…" she licked her lips and tried to steady her breathing again. It was hard to do with him standing so close. "Whenever I was fighting, yes, I suppose, that happened. Not when I was just doing mundane things. Or small spells."

"How long of a period of time are you allowed to go without the cuff being turned on?"

"It's up to Rhodes," she shrugged.

"Let's see if we can convince him to leave it off for a day or two," Loki let go of her hair and stepped back again, looking her up and down from the tips of her work boots to the top of her head. "Perhaps your body is not used to being powerful again and needs time to adjust."

"I was fine during the hearing. No floating hair or pink glow."

"You were under pressure to do well at the hearing," Loki pointed out, "That might have allowed you to maintain your control."

He walked in a circle around her and put his hands on her shoulders, making her jump and her hair fly into the air, slapping him in the face. He batted the pony tail away with a miffed sputter.

"Sorry," she winced. Her mother would have swatted her for that, but she doubted Loki would. Despite startling her the first time they'd met and despite the fact that she'd kicked him across the room, he had never raised a threatening hand to her.

"Survival instinct," he mused, "Your magic might be acting as a shield toward what it perceives as dangerous."

"Does my magic have a mind of its own then?" She joked, not liking the idea one bit. Her parents had used her powers for their own purposes for so long, she'd been looking forward to using them for herself.

"It's more like a reflex," Loki explained, "Like blinking."

He passed his hand in front of her eyes and she blinked on cue.

"I don't see your hair floating up in the air every time something startles you."

"I've centuries more practice than you," he explained, "My mother taught me how to control my magic from the moment it was known that I possessed the ability. Your mother bent your powers to her will and left you with the skills of a toddler."

"Not a toddler," Jak crossed her arms, "Surely in two hundred plus years I've learned a bit more skill than that."

"You think so?" He smirked at her, "Then, by all means, show me what you can do."

"What do you mean?"

"Give me a demonstration of your skill," he shrugged, "Fire a blast of controlled energy. Use a spell to change my appearance. Read my thoughts like Wanda does. Hell, go wild and pull a rabbit from a hat. Show me what you can do."

Jak tensed. For some reason, she found that she didn't want to show him any spells. In all her life before, she'd only seen her mother and father use magic apart from herself. Now that she'd seen what Loki and Wanda could do, she was intimidated.

But Loki was watching her expectantly and if she didn't do something he would tease her even more than if she tried and failed. So she held her hand out and used a bit of power to summon her screwdriver from where she'd left it. The tool flew into her hand. She wanted to transform it into something else, like a knife or a flower, but all she managed to do was change the color of the handle.

"Alright," Loki raised a brow, "Perhaps you are at the level of a very smart Asgardian toddler. But a toddler nonetheless."

Annoyed, Jak changed her hair color from pink to red, white, and blue. She tried to give herself freckles in the shape of stars, but couldn't see her own face to see if she'd accomplished it or not. As a finishing touch, she created little fireworks in the palm of her hand. It was still pathetic, she knew. And Loki seemed no more impressed than he had been by the screwdriver.

He fluttered his fingers in her direction and her hair changed back. Her coveralls became long, black robes, and a pointed hat showed up on top of her head. He reached over and plucked the screwdriver from her hand and turned it into a bird, which flew off the roof.

"Please don't turn all of my tools into birds," she commented, watching the bird fly out of sight, "I won't be able to do my job."

"You are woefully uneducated in the mystic arts, my dear," Loki tsked.

"How do you know I'm not just… un-powerful?" She asked, "Maybe all this time my mother was giving me her strength and now that she's dead I'm weak."

The idea had been haunting her ever since she'd gotten her powers back.

"You are not as powerful as Wanda," Loki said and then shivered slightly, "There are few who are, so that is not particularly surprising. And you are not as powerful as I am, clearly. But there is a decent amount of magical energy in you. I can sense it."

Her skin began to glow again when he said that and a pleased warmth spread under her skin. It was reassuring to know that she wasn't completely useless.

"You just need to master it and then you'll be a most effective little witch," he flicked the brim of the hat he'd conjured onto her head, "Now, do you remember any sort of combative magic? Blast me with a ball of energy!"

"I'm not going to attack you!" She protested.

He waved his hand and her clothes returned to their previous state. "I'll be fine. You could barely hit me with your fists when we were training in hand to hand combat. I expect you won't be able to do much damage this way either."

She frowned at him, remembering how he'd pretended to be Steve. Then she remembered how close he'd stood to her when he was pretending to be Steve, and the way he'd carefully touched her arms to show her how best to throw a punch. She remembered the feeling of his breath on the back of her neck and the smokey-sweet smell of his magic. The glow of her skin burned brighter and she felt her face get hot.

"Hmm, we really ought to work on controlling that glow," Loki commented, "We can't have you shining like a beacon every time you try to use magic."

"I can make it go away," she muttered, breathing deep and clearing the light from her skin. It flickered back on for a moment, and then blinked out to her relief.

"Excellent. Now, as they say: hit me with your best shot."

"The last time I used aggressive magic, I killed someone," she frowned, thinking of her mother again. Sure, Steve and the others had helped, but she knew she'd struck the final blow herself. Even if it was better in the long run to have her mother gone, it was impossible to escape the guilt she'd felt in that moment.

"If you kill me, the United States government will probably give you a medal," Loki teased. He threw his arms open wide and smiled at her, "Don't be a coward, Jaklyn, hit me. You had no qualms about kicking me when I was a small, defenseless puppy."

"You weren't defenseless and I was scared," she crossed her arms.

"If you'd like, I can annoy you until you want to attack me," he snapped his fingers and the air conditioner she'd just been working on, stopped running again. Smoke filtered out through the top of it.

"Oh come on," she groaned.

"That's not even the worst of what I can do to irritate you," he warned and flicked his wrist. The rest of the A/C units on the roof began smoking as well.

"Loki, quit it."

"Attack me."

"Fine! But I want it on record, Friday, that I did not hurt him on purpose, alright?"

"Noted," Friday's voice said from over by the door to the roof.

"Go on then," Loki taunted, "What are you waiting for-oof!"

She'd nailed him in the chest with a blast of magic and he doubled over. Terrified that she'd wounded him, she yelped and ran to his side to check on him. Just as she put her hand on his shoulder, a blast of green energy shot out and hit her in the gut. She went flying in the air and would have tumbled off the roof, if she hadn't used magic to catch herself and land, somewhat roughly, on top of one of the smoking A/C units.

"What was that?!" She demanded, hoisting herself to her feet. Loki smiled at her and crossed his arms over his chest.

"A demonstration! Well done saving yourself. Never fear, I would have caught you if you hadn't done it."

"You little shit," she snarled, stomping toward him, "You just told me to hit you, you didn't say you'd hit back!"

"I doubt any enemies you encounter will give you that courtesy either," he replied.

"Did my shot even hurt you?" She demanded, frustrated by his hasty recovery.

"It stung. Like a hefty bee. I know you were pulling your punches though. Now that I've nearly thrown you off the roof, perhaps you'll be a bit less gentle?"

There was a challenge in his green eyes. It occurred to her that he might hit her again once she hit him. And if she wanted to prevent that, she'd either have to actually hurt him, or dodge.

She tried dodging first, blasting him with just slightly more force than last time. He rolled his eyes at her and fired back. When she ducked out of the way of his return volley, he swept his arm forward and a dagger of light caught her in the shoulder and knocked her on her butt.

"Ow," she hissed, getting to her feet again and throwing another bit of magic. He flinched when it hit him, but then shrugged it off relatively quickly and sent out three blasts in her direction. She was fast enough to escape two, but the third hit her knee and knocked her down.

"Come on now, darling," he purred, "You'll have to put up a better fight than that. Stop trying to soften your blows and hurt me."

She didn't even have a chance to respond when he hit her again and knocked the air from her chest. In a moment of panic, she lost control of her magic and a blindingly bright pink explosion fanned out around her. Three air conditioners crumpled into shreds of metal and Loki flew backward and tipped over the edge of the roof.

Catching her breath, Jak ran to the edge and looked over. Loki had hit the ground, leaving a crater, but he was smiling from what she could see. He lifted his hand in a thumbs up.

"Brilliant!" He shouted up at her, "That actually really hurt!"

"Are you okay?" She called. It wasn't a hugely tall building, but from where he'd fallen it was nearly four stories. And he'd hit the cement walkway.

"I think I might have broken a rib," he said, still sounding excited.

Jak pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes. When she looked again, he was still resting in the crater and staring up at the sky.

"I'm in the slightest bit of agony!"

Jak sighed and started to make her way toward the stairs.

"I'll go get Dr. Cho."

A note from the author: Anyone else super hyped about The Marvels trailer they released this morning? Kamala Khan and Carol Danvers together in the MCU is going to be hilarious and I am so ready for it.

Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you are enjoying this story as much as I am! :) See you in the next chapter!