Recap:
"Ido not believe any of us expected this," Loki agreed before he stood andleft the room in long strides. The rest them soon scattered to go back to thetasks they'd been doing before, trying not to think about what they'd just seen
♤
A few hours later, Tony had finally finished Reyna's new limiters and hurried to her room to switch them before the old ones gave out. When the genius entered Reyna's room, he found her sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring out into space as she subconsciously created illusion after illusion about the turmoil in her mind. He stood there and watched for a minute, trying to figure out what she was thinking from the images floating around her. Most of them were a distressed blur and hard to read, while others were a bit clearer, showing memories from her time in the Palace.
"You sure have some shit to work through." The woman whipped around as the illusions disintegrated and threw a dart of smoke at Tony, which narrowly missed him. "Easy, Pitch, it's just me. I've got your new limiters. Let's get them switched out before those collapses." He held out his hand and helped the apologizing mutant off the floor. Tony assured her over and over again that it was alright, that he was the one who scared her.
"Okay, these limiters use the same neurotoxin that your old collar had. It's the only thing that can hold you back, apparently. There are small needles in it too. You shouldn't feel them, but if you do, you know what it is," Tony explained patiently.
"Just put them on. I don't need to know the details, sir." Reyna lifted her arms straight in front of her so Tony could put on the limiters. He clasped the silver bands around her arms just above the old ones and locked them in. Taking out a tablet, he pressed a few buttons.
"Here goes nothing," Tony announced before hundreds of hair-thin needles pricked her skin on both arms and released the toxins into her blood. Reyna took a deep breath, trying to get used to the uncomfortable yet familiar feeling.
"This is the highest setting, meaning that you can't use any of your abilities. I'm going to turn it down two levels to start things off. Then we're going to reduce the dose by one or two steps once a week, so it all goes smoothly for you. Are we clear?" The genius explained to the mutant as he removed the old bands from her arms. Reyna nodded and moved her arms around to get a feel for her new limiters. Then she disappeared into her own little world, trying out what she could do, and Tony left her to her discoveries.
He went down to the labs, where Bruce examined the handkerchief with Reyna's black tears on it.
"How did she react to the toxins?" Bruce asked, not bothering to look up from his work.
"Great, actually. Reyna's body is so used to them that her blood absorbs them immediately. What you got there?" He asked the doctor as he went over to a drawer where he put the two limiters.
"Did you see when Reyna cried earlier? Her tears were black, just like everything else about her powers, so I got curious, and if you look over here. They have almost the same properties and consistency as crude oil. It's fascinating," Bruce ranted. Tony came around and looked at the samples.
"That is something we're going to have to look into, for sure," the billionaire agreed, and the two science bros got to work.
♤
"Dinner will be served in the kitchen in 10 minutes." A voice rang through Reyna's room some hours later. The woman jumped at the sudden noise, and the book she had been trying to levitate smashed into the floor when her concentration broke. She looked up from the cover on the ground, and her bright yellow eyes found a pair of forest-green ones through her curly hair.
"Do you have to disrespect a book like that?" Loki asked, his voice a bit too cold as he walked over to it, picked it up, and read the title. "A rather good number as well. Do you possess no decency?" A smirk pulled at his lips as he looked up at the nervous woman in front of him.
"I'm very sorry, your highness. I just wanted to practice. It wasn't my intention to drop it, sir," Reyna apologized as she got off the bed and sank to her knees before the god, her hair falling over her face as she looked down. Loki looked at her with curiosity as he bent down, putting a finger under her chin and guiding her face up.
"As much as I enjoy having a lovely woman kneeling at my feet and addressing me with my proper title, I do not think you are doing it for the right reason." Loki's voice was somehow both calming and dark at the same time as he let go of Reyna's chin and held out his hand to help her up. The kneeling woman looked at his hand for a second before slowly placing hers in his and letting Loki help her up. Then he did something that baffled her. The god bent over Reyna's hand and kissed her knuckles. A barely noticeable blush crept up her cheeks and nose as Loki rose again, standing nearly a head taller than her. He smirked again.
"A courtesan gets flustered over basic courtesy. Definitely interesting." Loki mused as he searched Reyna's face. Reyna noticed and placed a seductive mask over her face like armor and stepped closer to him.
"May I remind you that I'm a serf? Not a paid worker," she reminded him with a sweet tone.
"That you were, but not anymore, remember that. You are a free woman now. We need to hurry down before the morons come running thinking someone died," Loki urged her and turned towards the door, beckoning her to come with him. Reyna raised an eyebrow, trying to process what he had just said. She was a free woman. Reyna couldn't help but smile at the revelation. Loki turned around to see if she would come with him. She just stood there with a smile on her lips and her gaze somewhere beyond.
"Allow me." He offered his hand again with a teasing smirk. Reyna snapped out of her stupor. She saw his smirk and returned it before placing her hand in his again.
"Why, of course, sire." she curtsied slightly, just as teasingly. Loki's smile was appreciative as placed her hand at his elbow, and they began the walk toward the kitchen.
♤
The two mages entered the kitchen and found the rest of the Avengers already seated and eating.
"She's been here for less than 24 hours, and you're already hitting on her?" Sam accused as the god pulled out a chair for Reyna. She just stood there, not knowing what to do.
"I'm simply teaching the lady some common courtesies, Falcon. Since she clearly has been deprived of them her whole life," Loki retorted calmly as he gestured to Reyna to take a seat which she hesitantly did. Everyone was eating the food that Wanda had made and showering the cook with compliments. Reyna got some food on her plate and got told to eat. When she finished her plate, she looked around at the food on the table, wanting more but not daring to take any.
"Why don't you try something without permission?" Loki whispered from his place next to her when he noticed her looking at the food. She looked at him like he had gone mad. The man just shrugged. Reyna looked to the food again, hesitantly reached out for the pot closest to her, and served herself another plate. The Latina looked to Loki again with an almost giddy expression.
"There you go!" Loki praised her quietly. Reyna put more things on her plate at the encouragement of the trickster, eating like there was no tomorrow. The room slowly went quiet around her as they watched her eat. When she finally noticed that everyone was looking at her, she shrank back into her chair.
"I'm sorry," she started.
"No. Don't apologize. If you're hungry, then take more. You don't need to ask," Steve shot down her concern before she could get started. Reyna took a few seconds to process what he had said before digging into her food again.
"Reyna, Fury wants you to start training as soon as possible. Both physical and magical. Not today or this week, but probably next week. Are you okay with that?" Nat spoke up about the demand that the director had placed on the group.
"Absolutely. Who will be training me, ma'am?" Reyna asked when she had swallowed her mouthful of potatoes.
"Me and Clint for physical. The plan was to have Bucky help as well, but due to recent events, we decided it wasn't a good idea, at least for now," Nat answered.
"And the magical training?"
"That would be me," Loki stated. The team looked like that hadn't been the plan at all, and a few looked like they wanted to argue.
"That sounds great. Why do you all look like he confessed to murder?" Reyna looked around, confused over their reaction. What was the problem with him teaching her?
"Right, you've been living under a rock for the last 13 years. How about we take turns catching her up on pop culture and what's been happening in the world? Also, we need to get her at least basic education." Tony proposed.
"Why don't we get her set up in Midtown High with Parker?" Sam questioned.
"How much schooling have you had in your life?" Tony directed his question to Reyna.
"I only completed first and second grade in Brazil. In the Palace, I only learned English, how to dance, and please others. I can read, write and do basic math, but I can barely even remember that, sir." Reyna admitted softly, embarrassed to know so little.
"How do you think she would fare in a modern high school when she has the education level of a second grader?" Tony questioned Sam, who sighed.
"Tutoring it is." Then the discussion of who was going to teach her what and how much ensued.
"Hey, guys! What are you talking about?" Their discussion was interrupted by Peter, who bounced into the room, wearing his usual lopsided grin. It took a few seconds for the hyper kid to realize there was a new face among them.
"Hi! I don't think we've met yet. My name is Peter Parker! What's your name?" The teenager stuck out his hand for Reyna to shake. She just looked from the boy to his hand and back again, shocked at his temper and manners.
"Reyna, sir," she answered simply, trying to figure out how to approach this overly polite yet rather intrusive young man.
"Like the praetor from Heroes of Olympus? That is so cool!" The boy bounced up and down as if he had just won the lottery, not even registering her sir.
"Who?"
"Kid, take it easy. You're scaring her. She more or less just got here from HYDRA. She doesn't know a thing about the world since 2004 and barely anything before that," Tony stopped the kid's inevitable tirade about the character. "We're trying to decide who'll tutor her in what."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I can show you modern media and how everyday technology works?" Peter asked Reyna, cautious now.
"That would be great, thank you, sir," Reyna gave the teen a soft smile.
"Cool! Do you want to start now?" He asked hopefully with big puppy eyes.
"Why not?" Barely had she uttered the words before she was dragged to one of the sofas in the living room to be taught about modern media.
"Well, that sorted out quickly," Sam commented.
"That it did," Steveconfirmed.