When we collide (Book 1)

Broken

Cate wiped off the tears on her cheeks and headed straight for her bedroom, walking past Bruce, Tony and Steve who had descended from the viewing room.

"Cate, are you alright?!" Bruce called out to her. She turned her head to face them. They were looking at her with concern in their eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just can't get into this right now." She slowly back away.

"I'll be fine, I promise. I just need some space." And she left without giving them a chance to convince her to talk to them. Loki walked out of the gym, followed by Thor. When they crossed Bruce, Steve and Tony, they blocked the hallway in order to confront Loki about what had happened.

"What the hell happened between you two?" Steve asked Loki seriously. Loki became instantly defensive. He was already feeling guilty enough he didn't want to have to listen to a lecture from the guys.

"This is none of your concern, Captain. Now if you'll excuse me."

"Well you see, reindeer games, this is our concern. She's one of ours and she's incredibly upset because of something you did." Tony said angrily to Loki.

"Alright, yes, I messed up!" Loki responded out of anger. "I... I saw things I shouldn't have.." His eyes suddenly became remorseful. Thor looked at his brother.

"Oh brother, tell me you didn't." Loki simply looked at Thor and then walked away from everyone. Tony, Steve and Bruce turned to Thor for an explanation. At first, Thor didn't want to reveal to the others of Loki's ability, but they needed an answer for what had happened.

"Loki has the ability to look through someone's memories."

"Wait, how did we not know that? So what? He looked into her mind?" Bruce asked the God of Thunder.

"Yes. I cannot tell you for certain that is what happened. And I do not know what he saw, but it was important enough to hurt her feelings gravely."

"Whatever it was she clearly didn't want to tell us, so let's not interrogate her about it. Capsicle, you've known her longest. How about you go check on her?" Tony asked Steve. "Tell her we're all here for her." Thor nodded his head in agreement with Stark.

"I will try to talk to my brother."

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Steve waited roughly an hour before going to see Cate. In front of her bedroom door, Steve hesitates to knock. He had never seen her hurt. He knew her and Loki always had their little banter and disputes, but never anything like this. He takes in a deep breath and knocks three times on the door waiting for her permission to come in.

"Come in, it's open." She said softly. She turned around to see it was Steve standing by the door. She gave him a smile and turned her back to him to finish folding some clothes she had spread on her bed. "I'm fine, Steve. Don't worry about me." She kept folding clothes and she walked to her bathroom to grab her tooth brush and hair straightener.

"If you're fine then why am I looking at you pack a bag?" Steve asked her with a gentle smile as he sat on the couch by the foot of her bed.

"It's my night shift week. It starts tonight. And with what happened this morning, I think I'll stay at my place for the week. I promise you I'll be back. I just need a little space from Loki." She kindly looked at Steve and sat down beside him. He gave her a hug.

"Look, for what it's worth, Loki seemed extremely upset about what happened. Couldn't you please talk to me? Maybe if I know what's happening, I could help you." Her eyes watered a little as they turned purple with shame and sadness. She raised a hand and placed it on Steve's cheek.