Loki couldn't go back to Malibu with Tony there. He didn't tell Tony that, just vanished. He found an inn in the neighbouring state of Nevada, situated at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and lay low. He couldn't voice the pain and hurt he was feeling and he couldn't define his guilt either. Some way or another, Daniel was dead. And, to Loki, that seemed like his fault.
He wasn't begrudged even a week to be left to his own devices, however. After a few days, he received a visitor. Loki hadn't tried to hide but he hadn't exactly been waiting with the door wide open for guests.
"What brings you here?" He asked, the question coming out harshly despite his best efforts.
Natasha Romanoff eyed him with concealed concern.
"Voices are made for speaking, you know," she said, "Not for yelling."
"I haven't been yelling," he replied coolly.
"Or for sitting in silence, forbidding everyone entry," she continued.
"I can hardly appeal the first but I cannot be accused of the second."
"Walker, Alden, you can't do this. To yourself, to Stark - you cannot do this."
"A man can do what he likes," Loki stated flippantly, throwing himself onto the thankfully nearby sofa.
"Most men, yes," she persisted, sitting down more gracefully than he in an armchair. "But you are not most men. You are a man being pulled by the strings of various people. You're a puppet, Walker, and you can't resist their tugs for long."
"Someone should give you a literature prize," Alden commented.
He picked up a book from the coffee table and pretended to read, knowing full well she wouldn't be deceived.
"Or, better yet, remove your tongue."
Most people would have been stunned by a remark such as that coming from the dignified Alden Walker. However, Natasha Romanoff was not most people, and could not be deterred by an empty threat.
"If it helps you release your anger, by all means shout at me. Curse at me, do your worst."
"You have no idea of my worst," he said vehemently.
"And you have no idea of mine," she replied evenly. "So how about I play therapist?"
"Therapist?" Loki scoffed. "I don't need a silly human tell me what I should or should not be feeling."
If Natasha noticed his mistake, she didn't mention it and, for that, he was glad. It wouldn't be a good time for earth to learn of his otherworldly ancestry.
"We're all silly humans," Natasha pointed out. "But, if you like, I can do one better and forget all your confessions after you say them like a silly human would do."
"I may take you up on that offer," Loki smirked.
"Finally. I thought it might take all day."
Loki preferred the honesty to Rhodey's mollycoddling any day.
"So," she said, leaning forwards, "Let's get these feelings out. Why are you so certain that everything is your fault?"
YOU ARE READING
Starting Over - Loki (COMPLETE)
Fanfiction(Best ranking: #31 in TONYSTARK and #85 in LOKI) Loki didn't mean to fall. Sure, he meant to let go but there were no accounts on 'the void'. Nobody had ever lived to tell the tale. Nobody until... him. A tale where Loki ends up on Earth after falli...
