Heart Of Stone

Chapter 4

I had been taken to a training room by Clint while Tony took Loki back to a secure place (his intentions were to keep him there only temporarily, but not torture him, so after a short while of consideration I allowed it) and Thor went off to wherever Asgard was.

The others all followed us in the training room, sitting off to the side to watch. "Go ahead and practice on some dummies," Clint gestured to some practice targets in the shape of humans. I carefully touched one. When nothing happened and I was convinced I wasn't in danger of being harmed by them, I pulled the small barb of metal from my pocket.

After a moment of willing it to grow, it did so until it was as tall as I was, resembling a spear or a staff. The others seemed surprised. "If I can't touch anyone, I need this to defend myself, don't I?" I question them. They all nod, each one in various stages of understanding.

I start slicing at the dummies. Somehow they don't shred the moment my barb penetrates them. Must be some kind of enchantment or some other weird stuff like that. I've learned that a lot of these guys have powers like I do, so it's not impossible.

What are they all doing? I hear Loki's voice in my head, causing my next strike to miss entirely. I stop so I can concentrate on my reply. They decided to make me train so they could watch. Why do you ask?

Simply curious, Loki answers. I do not exactly have any other form of entertainment here, so I decided I would see just how much of my power I have left that I can still access after I was put in these annoying chains. They restrain my powers. My telepathy seems to be untouched, but that is all.

I look into his mind. He's telling the truth. I send him some images of the wildlife around my home and the sunsets over the lake to keep him busy for a short while, then go back to my training.

I don't stop until Natasha steps over. "I think that's enough for now," she says. I nod and retract my barb before putting it away again. "Where'd you get that thing?" She asks. "Cast-iron isn't the hardest to obtain, even if it isn't the easiest," I reply bluntly.

"Fair enough," she nods. It's clear that she's just as no-nonsense as me, though with the both of us there's room for the occasional sly remark. I like it. It gets things done while still leaving a sense of humour in us.

"You hungry?" She asks. "I suppose I could eat," I agree. "Then I hope you like whatever the boys haven't eaten," she shrugs. "They're boys?" I play along. "Are you sure? They sound like pigs to me."

She chuckles. "They are. If Stark wasn't a billionaire he'd be bankrupt due to the amount of food he has to buy." I know that 'Stark' is Tony due to her thoughts.

"I would assume, yes," I agree. "The trick is to find something you like by they dislike. Whenever they are planning to steal whatever food you cook, they can't eat it."

"You try finding something they won't eat," she sighed. "I will accept your challenge," I smirk slightly, already knowing a few things I could try against them.

I follow Natasha to what appears to be a modern kitchen. "I hope you're not vegetarian or vegan because you wouldn't last a day with Tony's cooking," she remarked.

"I'll eat meat," I shrug. "You can't exactly be picky where I'm from." "What's it like living out there?" She questioned. "Usually peaceful," I answer. "It's nice there. I can keep away from fools who want to meet 'that weird girl who lives with the bears'."

"There are bears?" She seemed surprised that I'd live in a bear-infested forest. "They don't bother me," I shrug. "Though even if they did I can handle them."

"Do you train much? Is that how you can keep the bears away?" She queried. "It's part of my daily routine, yes," I confirm with a nod. "Though will pointing out that you were sent by the others to gain my trust and learn more about me have to replace it, Miss Romanoff?"

She blinks, not expecting me to call her out. "For what it's worth, Tony was the one thinking about it," I inform her. "You were doing fine."

"I'll remember to yell at him later," she said, growing colder now that her cover had been blown. "I'm sure you will," I agree. "Though if you wanted to know anything, you can just ask. If the answer is within reason, I'll say."

She looked surprised that I didn't tell her to get lost after she was caught deceiving me. Or attempting to, at least. "You're not keeping secrets?"

"Only a few, but apart from that I have nothing to hide," I admit. "I'm guessing the reason why you can't touch anyone is one of those secrets?" She assumed. I nodded. "What about your other powers?" She prompted.

"That one you just won't like, so I'll only let you know if necessary," I say. "Apart from that I don't think there's much else I won't say."

Natasha seemed to consider it for a moment. "Have you got any enemies or allies or something?"

"No and no," I reply. "If anyone came into my forest they would be sent back out again and I only ever left to trade."

"Trade what?" She seemed intrigued. "Animal fur, rare herbs, meat ready to be preserved, that kind of thing," I explain. "It got me everything I needed that I could not gather myself in my forest."

Natasha nodded slowly. "Well you don't have to worry about that around here. It's as simple as telling whoever's going shopping what to buy... and then yelling at whoever stole it."

"I can handle people trying to take my stuff," I state calmly, already anticipating the fun I'm going to have if I hang around this place.