Unexpected

XXV

Nina washed herself in less than five minutes, which was quite hard, seeing the quantity of dried blood on her. She had to admit it, it was quite disturbing to see the red water running down her body and into the shower floor.

When she was done, Agent Philips was waiting for her outside the bathroom with one of Pepper's jeans and a large hoodie. Loki had told Phillips to take some clothes form Pepper's closet, but Nina was pretty sure this hoodie was Tony's.

Nina folded the sleeves of the hoodie so that her hands were visible, and she did the same with the edges of her jeans, putting her Converses back on. Before Phillips could escort her back to the roof, Nina grabbed his arm and placed a hand on his cheek.

Nina closed her eyes and tried her best to access Phillips' memories. She knew she could do it, but she didn't know if her own powers would be enough to stop the Mind Stone.

Guess what? Of course it wasn't.

Phillips was taken aback, and his eyes went blank for a second, but he soon shook it off and stared back at her. Phillips took her shoulder and pushed Nina back into the elevator, which would take them to the penthouse.

Loki was waiting for them, sitting on a couch.

"Creep," Nina mumbled under her breath as she approached him. "What are you waiting for? Why don't you just go and unleash your army!" Nina said those last words making gestures with her hands to exaggerate the situation. 

"I simply await for the correct moment," Loki responded, not one sign of emotion on his voice nor face. "Your friends are coming," he revealed. That sentence sent a wave of panic into Nina's body. Although she knew they had to fight this fight, put themselves in danger for the greater good, Nina sure wished they hadn't. She couldn't bare to think her friends were in danger.

And by coincidence, on that exact moment, Nina saw Tony Stark land on his roof, the machines taking his suit off. Loki stood up, a smirk on his face as Tony casually walked inside, stepping behind his bar.

"Please tell me you are going to appeal to my humanity," Loki pleaded sarcastically, taking a few steps towards Tony, who started pouring himself a drink.

"Uh... actually, I'm planning to threaten you," Tony corrected. Nina couldn't hide her smirk. She walked towards them too, sitting on a stool in the bar. She then turned the stool, making sure both Tony and Loki were visible if she only turned her head a bit.

"You should have let your armor on, for that," Loki told him.

"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage. You've got the blue stick of destiny. Are you alright, kitty?" He asked. Nina nodded, taking a drink he was offering her from his hand. "Good to know. I don't know what those assassins would do without you," he winked. "Would you like a drink?" He asked, turning his attention back to Loki.

"Stalling me won't change anything," Loki told them.

"No, no, no! Threatening," Tony corrected him once more. "No drink? You sure? We're both having one, here," he said, lifting his glass.

"The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers," Tony said, earning a confused frown from Loki, who tilted his head a bit to the side. Nina had to admit, Loki was quite adorable when he wasn't trying to kill everyone. Unfourtunetly, he now was. "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. Earth mightiest heroes, that sort of thing."

"Yes, I've met them," Loki informed him in a 'matter of fact' tone.

"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one," Tony smiled. He then spotted the huge bruise on the side of Nina's face, making his face fall. He approached her, taking her face in one of his hands and passing a thumb on the bruise. He really did care. "We'll have to get that checked out," he mumbled at her, turning his attention back to the God of Mischief. "But, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-God; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins; this lady here, who I'm pretty sure isn't human, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

Nina gave Tony a smile. Not only did it confirm his theory, but it also somehow told him that she liked the way he was handling things. Maybe they would actually become friends. Loki fidgeted his staff in his hands, obviously uneasy.

"That was the plan," Loki told him.

"Not a great plan," Tony cut in. "'Cause when they come, and they will, they'll come for you." Nina watched carefully as Tony grabbed these metal bracelets from underneath bar table. She imemdiatly realised they were callantote bracelets, a honing device. He could control one of his suits with those.

"I have an army."

"We have a hulk."