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"Dammit," I cursed, as Nat helped pull my dress off, revealing a large bruise across my rib cage. It must've happened in the skirmish with Alessandro.
"You alright?" Nat asked, for probably the fiftieth time since we'd gotten back to the hotel.
I nodded stiffly. She and Steve wouldn't stop asking that. Loki had asked only once, to which I'd nodded silently. Ever since, he'd just been watching me quietly. I tried not to pay any attention, which was easy because I couldn't seem to pull my mind out of the trunk.
Somewhere deep in my mind, I wanted him to ask me again. I wanted him to say anything, because the sound of his voice seemed like the only thing that could calm the panic in my throat as I continued to flash back to being locked in that tight, dark trunk. To the moment Alessandro revealed himself.
And then, I realized something.
"My name," I gasped, "Back in Italy, when he took me on a date. Alessandro knew my name. He called me Alivia, and I—I didn't even notice. But I was using a fake name, after Greenwich. God, I'm so stupid."
"No, you're normal," Nat responded flatly.
I looked up at her. "What?"
"You're just a normal person. Not some super-spy who's been conditioned to notice things like that. That isn't ever something you should apologize for or beat yourself up over."
Her words made sense but in the moment, they went in one ear and out the other.
Nat dragged a cloth over my face, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Here," she said, when she was finished wiping off my makeup, "Put this on."
She handed me a large grey t-shirt and a pair of shorts, and I pulled them both on numbly. It wasn't just the trunk that had me reeling from a numb sort of panic. It was also the fear that we'd run into a dead end. That this was all for nothing.
The door creaked open just as I slipped the top over my head.
"Do they not knock on Asgard?" Nat folded her arms.
"I don't," Loki informed her, before his eyes drifted to me, "Better?" He asked.
I nodded, but I knew the minute his eyes met mine that he didn't believe me.
He sighed, pressing his lips together before fishing something from his pocket. He handed it to Nat. It was the phone.
"See what you can get out of that," he said as she took it.
Nat nodded before looking to me. "You'll be okay?"
"I will if you find something useful on that phone," I said, cracking a smile that didn't reach my eyes.
She rubbed my shoulder before stalking from the room.
I exited the bathroom, slumping down onto my bed. Steve was sitting on the dresser by the window, waiting. Loki came after me, sitting down beside me.
I watched his hand move closer to me before freezing. Like he wanted to touch me but thought better of it.
"You've got to try to put this all out of your head for the night, Al," Steve said, "You need to rest."
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Fanfiction"You are unimaginably precious when you're flustered, my dear," he said lowly, "And I can assure you that while I often find you distracting, you are much more than just a distraction to me. Why do you think I haven't killed you yet?" "Because you'd...
