The Before [Prequel- Part 1]

Meeting again

Obidiah Stane, Ivan Vanko, Justin Hammer, Aldrich Killian, and the cherry on top of it all, Hydra.

Great list, right?

Oh, I forgot to add, Nick Fury.

What can I say? That one eye sees all.

Once I finished curling my hair, I teleported to where the party was being held.

I know it's not the best idea to teleport out in the open where someone could see me, so I made myself invisible when I teleported to the corridor outside the room where the party was.

I made sure no one was looking before I turned myself visible again and entered the party.

I looked around and saw Dad flirting with various women, per usual. Bruce and Natasha were talking by the bar. And Thor and Clint were talking to some veterans by the pool table. The only one who seemed out of place was Steve.

He was standing awkwardly in a corner, trying to go unnoticed, poor guy.

I walked over to him and took in the room layout.

There was a dance floor and a bar on the ground floor with plenty of tables, and the loft above it had an eating area and a pool table. Steve was standing by the dance floor.

"Hey, Captain Rogers." I smiled at him kindly.

"Hey, you're Catherine, right?" He tilted his head.

I nodded. It's not like I blame him for not remembering my name. We've only talked a few times.

"Are you enjoying the party?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

"As much as I can. It's kind of hard, though, with all the dancing." He shook his head.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, back in the 40s, right before I crashed the plane into the ice, I had a date. We planned on dancing at the Stork Club. She promised she'd teach me how to dance..." He chuckled at the last sentence.

"Yeah, this must be hard. But, hey, at least no one is playing old-timey music." I joked.

Seconds later, a slow dance started.

Wow. Wonderful timing.

I looked to the dance floor before turning back to Steve, who had seemingly vanished.

Really? Just really?

This is just great! The first song of the night is a song you need a partner for! And would you look at that? I'm single as hell.

I tried to find my dad to see if he'd spare me a pity dance, but he was busy dancing with some woman I'd never seen before.

You know it's bad when your own father won't dance with you.

That's when I was met with an unpleasant surprise.

"May I have this dance?" The sorry excuse of a man asked me.

"No, thank you, Mr. Hammer. I'm quite sure you lost any chance to dance with me after you tried to have my father killed. Also, just a small side note, you are two times my age, if not more." I rolled my eyes.

How did he even get into the tower?

But, sadly, Justin Hammer was never one to give up.

"Come on. Just one dance?"

Before I could protest, he pulled me onto the dance floor and started dancing with me.

"See, this isn't so bad." He gave me a smile that made me want to throw up in my mouth.

Oh yes, it was so bad.

"May I cut in?" An unknown person said from behind me.

I didn't even bother to make sure I knew who it was. Anyone was better than Justin Hammer.

Literally anyone.

"Yes, you may." I turned and finally saw his face.

Loki.

~~~Loki's pov~~~

I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was her. Catherine was actually at the party.

Was Thor actually right for once?

And then came the moment when I saw that man start to dance with her.

A wave of anger came over me as I watched her become increasingly uncomfortable. That's when I knew I had to intervene.

Maybe it was the alcohol from earlier in the evening that gave me the confidence to step in, but whatever it was, I found myself out on the dance floor seconds later.

~~~Catherine's pov~~~

"So, what are you doing at Stark's party?" He asked me as we started to dance, his hands positioned respectfully just above my waist while mine were rested on his shoulders.

"Well, I work here, for starters," He spun me around gracefully as I responded.

"Ah, so I assume 'your boss' is Stark?" He questioned.

"Yes. I'm his assistant." I revealed with a smile.

His eyes widened in realization. "That explains why Stark gave us that coffee the other day."

I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, he sends me out for errands like that often. And I wanted to thank you. Not just for the coffee save the other day but for cutting in just now. I don't know if I could have gotten out of that situation myself."

"Anytime." He smirked. "And may I say, you look ravishing tonight, darling."

I felt myself blush. This was going to be interesting.