I was walking around the tower with Loki. He offered to show me around the tower, and I accepted gratefully, glad to be able to escape the angry glares of the team. Tony had given me a fraction of my abilities back. It wasn't fun knowing that I could burn through my power much more quickly.
"Now that we are... allies," Loki began, "Would you care to tell me how you came to work for Hydra?"
"I showed my magic to the wrong people," I said shrugging. "They were Hydra, but I didn't know. I think I was six when they kidnapped me."
Loki looked murderous.
"Were you born with your power?" Loki asked.
"Apparently," I said. "What about you? What's your tragic backstory?"
Loki swallowed.
"I – my father isn't really my father. He took me from my home for political leverage. He hoped that maybe one day, he could use me against my real father, or something like that," he said.
I placed a hand on his arm.
"Well, I think that you have the right to be mad at him," I said.
Loki smiled at me.
"Thank you, Darling," he said.
He gave me a tour of the tower. There was an epic party deck that I was definitely going to crash one day. There were labs, an indoor pool, and a movie theatre. I even met Friday, Tony's A.I, who ran the joint.
"Now, I'm sure you'll love this floor," Loki said.
The elevator doors opened, and I gasped happily.
"You have a whole room dedicated to training?" I exclaimed.
Loki chuckled.
"There is a floor above this that Barton uses for archery practice," Loki supplied.
We walked through the training floor. There were mats for sparring and a cool looking obstacle course. There was a gym area to the back with treadmills, weights, and other exercise stuff.
"Mr Stark has requested that Reindeer Games and Bandit meet him immediately. He has set Bandit's room up," Friday announced.
"Reindeer Games? Bandit?" I questioned.
Loki sighed dramatically.
"Stark likes nicknames. He calls me Reindeer Games because my helmet has horns. I assume that he calls you Bandit because you stole his suit," Loki explained.
I scoffed.
"Seriously? Bandit? That's the best he could come up with?" I asked.
Loki just chuckled.
"Can I see your helmet?" I asked.
Loki smiled at me and his helmet appeared on his head. I made a mental note to steal it later. Loki vanished his helmet and led me to his floor. Tony stood in the hall in front of two doors.
"Ah, good, you're here," he said.
I glowered at him.
"Bandit? Really?" I growled.
Tony just laughed.
"Here, this one's yours," Tony said, opening the door to the left.
I entered and almost died. The room was massive. There was a bed in the centre of the left wall, and a massive bookshelf on the right. The bookshelf only had a few books, which was disappointing, but I guess that meant that I could buy more that I liked. There was a desk in the corner near the window, giving me a nice view of the city. There were two doors which led to an enormous wardrobe and a luxurious bathroom.
"This is all for me?" I asked.
"Yep," Tony said.
"Are you still mad at me?" I asked.
"Yep," Tony repeated, before leaving.
"I said I was sorry!" I called out after him.
I shook my head and looked to Loki.
"What am I supposed to do to make him forgive me?" I asked.
Loki shrugged.
"Don't throw him out of a window, I suppose," he said.
I grumbled and flung myself onto the bed. It was so comfy.
"Do you have any spare clothes?" I asked. "These ones are ugly."
It was true. I was wearing the navy-blue top and pants that I had been given as a prisoner.
"Of course," Loki said. "Come with me."
I followed him out of my room and into the room across from mine. He opened a drawer that had shirts in it.
"I believe you are going shopping in a few days for your own clothes," Loki said, "but you can borrow what you would like for now."
I took a few shirts and Loki gave me some pants.
"I will ask Lady Natasha if she has any pants that are your size," Loki said.
"No, don't," I sighed. "I was really mean to her. Don't make her give her stuff to me."
Loki looked at me silently. He looked at me a lot, not that I minded.
"Well, I'm going to go get changed," I said.
I left his room and walked into my own. I put on a green shirt and a pair of black pants. They were a bit big, so I rolled them up. There was a knock at my door. I walked over and opened it. I was surprised to see Clint.
"Hi, there," I said.
"We're ordering pizza," he said. "What do you want?"
I told him my order and he even smiled at me.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked suspiciously.
"Well, you're apart of the team now," he said shrugging. "And the rest of them have severe trust issues. And even worse forgiving skills. Besides, you saved me during the battle."
I smiled at him.
"Thanks for that, by the way," he added.
I smiled wider as he left. Maybe I did have friends here. Loki stepped out of his room a moment later.
"Are you ready to go to dinner?" he asked.
I nodded and took his outstretched arm in a courtly manner. I looked out of the windows as we passed them. I longed to be out there, flying and feeling the wind in my hair. We finally arrived in the Avengers' common room. It was mostly a living room with couches and armchairs strewn throughout the room. There was a kitchen and a big dining table with at least twenty chairs.
When Loki and I entered the room, everyone turned to look at us. I didn't really like all of the attention.
"Hey, y/n," Clint said nicely.
"Hi, Clint," I said quietly.
I was scared, being in this room with all of these angry super-humans. I wanted to hide behind Loki. I began to tremble a little bit. Loki held me closer to him.
It's alright, Darling, he said into my mind. I won't let them hurt you.
My trembling eased a little bit.
"Guys, stop it. You're scaring her," Wanda said.
She stood up and walked over to me.
"Come sit with me," she said kindly.
She grabbed my hand, and I untangled my other one from Loki. She led me back to the couch she was sitting on before. I wedged myself into the corner and she and sat down beside me.
"So, y/n, do you have any hobbies?" she asked.
"Uh... I like to read," I said. "And train."
Wanda asked me about myself, and I returned the favour. After about ten minutes, I could sense a friendship blossoming. Loki sat himself in an armchair next to the couch.
The pizza arrived quickly. Everyone rushed to Bucky when brought it in. He nearly lost his other arm. Everyone sat on the couches with their pizza. Mine was at the bottom of the stack so I waited until everyone had stopped swarming Bucky to go grab mine.
"Thank you," I said, taking the box from his hands.
"You're welcome," he said.
I walked back over to my corner of the couch and began nibbling on my pizza. Everyone snuck glances at me while I ate. I didn't know what they expected me to do. Maybe blow up. Conversations started here and there. I was sometimes included.
I hoped that one day they would trust me.