Infatuated with a God

Chapter Thirty-Nine

It was late when the team arrived back from their various chores, returning their weapons to the training room as I beat the punching back within an inch of its life. I had used my magic to bypass the lock and after many failed attempts was finally able to get in. I had been at it for around an hour now, relishing in the soreness of my knuckles as they connected with the bag. There was some laughter amongst the team as they joked amongst themselves, and I noticed it died as they realised I was in the room. Luckily no one made a comment. As usual, it was Tony who broke the silence.

"Kid, I would appreciate it if you could give me a heads-up before destroying the equipment again." He snarked. I laughed harshly at his words, trying to find my humour amongst the complete frustration I felt.

"Should I let the press know that their beloved billionaire can't afford gym equipment?" My response got a laugh back from Tony, who then carried on the conversation that the others had paused. It wasn't long until I noticed Nat hoping on top of the cabinet besides me.

"How was the mission?" I asked, unwrapping the fabric off of my knuckles before grabbing my water.

"Same old, same old. I'm hoping you will be cleared to join us soon, I'm tired of the constant pissing contests." I laughed with her before she continued. "Want to tell me what's up?" Her eyes glanced down to my neck, and I noticed her eyebrow raise. I sighed in response, realising that there must have been a mark forming.

"Not much. I brought someone around. It was fun and then they left. Then Loki decided to try to piss me off. I have to say I do prefer it when Thor stays as well, he seems to only bother me when his brother is gone."

I lied to her with ease, not picking up any doubts in her mind at my words. I hated lying to her, and hated invading her mind more, but I knew that I would most likely be sectioned if I told her the truth. How would that even go? Oh yeah Loki fingered me until I came, and I liked it. They would definitely question my sanity and I didn't feel like spending all my time in rubber socks. We chatted some more about the mission, and she pried a bit into the random hook up I had brought in. I wasn't sure whether it was due to some suspicion she had, or if she felt uncomfortable with strangers being in the tower. I tried to ease her concerns, nonetheless. We all made our way to the longue when I noticed Loki was sprawled out on his usual sofa, reading the Merchant of Venice. I refused to look in his direction, instead investing myself more fully in the conversation at hand. Nat looked at me with unspoken questions in her eyes, I guess it was unusual for me to have much of an opinion about where we ate. Once it was decided we would get Chinese, I noticed Tony had removed himself slightly to talk to someone on the phone. He sighed in response muttering something to Steve about a security review the next day. My head whipped up automatically.

"What's a security review?" I asked, everyone else already seeming to know or not caring. If Tony was surprised by my sudden interest he didn't show it.

He sauntered over to his usual chair as he spoke, and I followed him trying to ignore the smirk Loki was doing little to hide.

"It's not much. Mostly it's a quick review of the security footage to make sure no one is doing anything shady. Me and Happy implemented it following the reveal that Hydra was operating in SHIELD." I chewed my thumb nail in worry, causing him to look up at me more questioningly. "Don't worry, kid we don't look at your rooms or anything. Just public spaces to make sure our defences our good." I tried to put a smile on my face as if this reassured me and then changed the topic of conversation to the latest stock boom in Stark Enterprises to keep him occupied. When FRIDAY announced that food was here I offered to grab it and, to my surprise, Loki offered to help. Well, he did his own version of offering to help which was to complain about not wanting the weak mortal to drop his food. I snarked back that I was more likely to poison it but was thankful knowing this was an excuse for us to talk alone.

"Did you know?" I snapped at him in a whisper once we were in the elevator. He laughed in response.

"No, I did not. But I have to say it has made for interesting entertainment." I frowned at his reply.

"You aren't going to help me wipe the footage, are you?" I looked up and saw the sly smile spread across his face. He leant down, bringing his lips to my ears.

"Why would I do that, pet?"

The doors opened and he sauntered out towards the front door as I held the elevator door open. He came back quickly, the bags he could not carry floating behind him surrounded by his signature green mist. I grabbed them out of the air. As the door closed I went to protest, but he cut me off before I could speak.

"I care little if they know of what we did. It would not affect me in the slightest, therefore I have no obligation to tamper with the footage." My mouth snapped shut in anger. I want to protest but knew that it would only encourage his behaviour further. We did not speak again for the rest of the night, and I refused to look in his direction once more. Instead, I pretended to be focussed on the conversation around me while I mentally tried to create a plan that would wipe out the footage. Most didn't notice my distraction, but I could feel Nat's eyes periodically dancing back to me during the night. When I excused myself for the night, she followed me to the elevator.

"Okay, what's going on Kaya? You've been acting off all night." I sighed, realising that she wouldn't give up but not knowing how to tell her a version of the truth without revealing everything. But then I realised that if anyone in the tower was to know how to bypass Tony's system it would be her. The thought caused me to gasp, making the questioning look on her face deepen as her eyebrows arched.

"Nat do you know how to delete security footage without it raising any suspicions?"

Before I was even finished asking, Nat hit the stop button on the elevator and turned to face me. Confused, I met her gaze and realised her train of thought. A frown crossed my lips as my heart sunk.

"Oh." I muttered, trying to stop the tears from meeting my eyes. I had been so lost in my quest to remove the footage that I hadn't realised what was truly happening. "After all this time... I thought we were becoming friends." My voice was barely a whisper as my gaze met the white linoleum floor beneath me. A tear fell onto the floor before I could stop it.

"Kaya..." Her voice was soft when she spoke, but it did little to comfort me.

"No, no. I get it. I mean I was kept by Hydra. I-I can see why..." I stumbled over my words as I tried to steady my emotions. Taking a deep breath, I looked back up but couldn't meet eye contact, settling to stare at her shoulder instead. "The girl I hooked up with earlier, it wasn't exactly in my room. So, I needed to find a way-" Before I could finish Nat hit the button again and the elevator sprung to life.

"Use override code 24603492." Before FRIDAY could finish questioning the command, Nat cancelled the order. I gave her a small smile as the door opened to my floor. With a muttered thanks I made my way into my room before collapsing on the sofa. Still bruised from the lack of trust, I wrapped by light grey blanket around me before commanding FRIDAY to delete the library footage from this afternoon.