An Avenger's Tale

11|| Sacrifice

I woke to the sun gently peeking its head through the blinds. I turned on my back and yawned, stretching out as I sat upright in the bed. I threw the covers off of my body and walked over to the window, staring at early morning New York.

Some cars were passing by on their way to work. I smiled as I remembered it was summer holiday but my smile faltered then faded when I remembered Loki's brutality last night. At the memory, I threw on a nightgown and rushed towards Loki's room down the hall, silently tiptoeing past Peter and Steve's rooms.

I didn't knock, knowing he wouldn't respond. I entered the room and walked towards Loki's bed but the sheets were empty. "Loki?" I whispered but no response whatsoever.

I walked down the hall towards the stairs and headed for Thor's room. Just as I was about to knock, the doors slid open and none other than the god of Mischief himself stepped out of the room.

"Brother, you have a visitor." Loki stated harshly before brushing past me and disappearing without as much as a glance.

Thor and his head of blonde hair appeared in the doorway and I quickly jolted my gaze back to him. He seemed frustrated, agitated and even a bit hopeless but he smiled nonetheless when he fixed his eyes upon me.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Sage?"

"I was looking for--" Thor's eyebrows creased and I rethought about my reply. "I was wandering if you'd like to come train with me, you know, since I can yield the hammer too."

"Are you sure? I am not going to go easy on you, Stark."

"I was hoping you wouldn't."

My reply seemed to excite him and he entered his room while I waited outside in the hallway for him. I could hear a racket and some faint groans echoeing from his room and I couldn't help but chuckle. Thor stepped out of his room, dressed in his Asgardian clothing, and hammer in hand.

We headed downstairs to the training arena, where I changed into my suit and wielded my daggers in my hands. Thor smirked charmingly at me as he ran towards me and I dodged the strike of his hammer, spinning on my heels and aimed the dagger at his neck.

"Bold move, lord of Thunder." I smirked, purposefully mispronouncing his title, knowing how upset he gets.

"It's god of Thunder." He knocked the dagger out of my hand and kicked my feet from under me, making me fall to the ground.

I landed on my back and rolled out of the way before his hammer slammed into my face. I collected my lost dagger and scrambled to my feet, aiming at him.

"You know this is training and not an actual battle, right?" I heaved, slashing at his face, missing his ear by merely inches.

"I do not see the difference." He threw his hammer at my head and I quickly buckled over, feeling the gentle breeze as it swished above my head.

"The difference is to not actually kill me." I stated as I stood up and caught Thor's hammer in midair as it was on its way back to him. "What's it made from?"

"It's made from a special steel from the heart of a dying star." Thor uttered as he swiftly dodged my attempts to hammer him.

"Interesting."

I threw the hammer at his face but he caught it, and twirled it in his hand. I sighed wearily and gripped onto the holsters of my daggers. Two can play at this game. I aimed my first dagger at his face and when he moved to block it, used the opportunity to plunge my dagger into his side.

He doubled over and clamped his hand on the wound as I slid out the dagger. He groaned softly and fell to his knees. Once realization hit me, the daggers slid from my palms, falling to the ground with a clink. I rushed to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder.