Loki's Endgame

Chapter 3

The next morning, the team eats breakfast together before everyone goes their separate ways for a few days. You hug and kiss Clint, Nat and Cap goodbye before they leave, you never know which mission will be your last. Banner ruffles your hair jokingly and Tony leans in to whisper in your ear...

"Keep Him out of trouble, kid, I trust your instincts."

You smile, "I'll keep him in line, I promise!"

Tony gives you a wink and heads out with Bruce to the Stark Expo.

As everyone departs you notice Loki has settled himself down in the corner of the living room to read a book, so you grab a water and some cookies and figure you would do the same... What's the worst that could happen? He had only tried to kill you once... what if he wanted to finish the job? He was known for being a vengeful one.

Nope. You wouldn't cast your mind there.

You walk into the large open living room, blue sofas are positioned in the centre of the room in a circle with a large glass coffee table in the centre. Loki sits on the furthest sofa away from the door, his feet propped up on the coffee table. He had recently taken to wearing the Midgardian clothing Thor had bought him; black jeans, black Chelsea boots and a smart royal purple dress shirt, rolled up to his elbows casually.

You place your snacks on the table and Loki glances up from his book, and to your surprise, he silently and quickly nods. You utter a short hello, astounded by his acknowledgement of your existence and walk over to the vast bookcases installed into the entire wall of the living room.

You browse the books on the shelves, unsure what to pick. You loved reading, any and every genre. You had a soft spot for science-fiction. As your finger runs along the books you stop on a small hardback book nestled in between larger novels. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. One of your all time favourite books. It seemed pretty fitting in the present company.

You sit down on the sofa opposite Loki and surround yourself in the world of Victorian Sci-Fi, thoroughly enjoying the rare day off free from training and Avengers duties.

After a while, the hair on your neck begins prickling, standing on end... Little Peter Parker called it his Spidey-Sense... but 'Tesseract-Sense' didn't quite have the same ring to it. You get the feeling of being watched and slowly glance up from your book.

Loki is staring at you with a look of confusion, studying your face with such intensity it startles you. His blue eyes flash in shock as he gets caught.

"Um... Hey...Can I help you?"

Loki looks down, embarrassment on his face, "Oh... Nothing, might I ask what you're reading?"

"Oh it's err, a sci-fi book written way ahead of its time, it's a fascinating insight into the beliefs of futuristic science in the Victorian age... I highly recommended it actually, and his other works. They would definitely interest you with your track record haha..."

You catch yourself babbling out of nerves and stop abruptly, leaving an awkward silence between you. Loki lets out a breath through his nose, nods and returns to his book.

Huh. That was really odd, you think to yourself. Before you begin to overthink, as usual, you return to your own book. As you get half way through the next page, Loki's voice cuts through the silence bluntly.

"Banner said I'm the reason you're here."

You jump, confused, trying to comprehend what Loki has just said,
"Innnnn the living room?"

Loki scoffs and shakes his head, looking defeated and frustrated, "It doesn't matter... just forget about it."

After a few seconds of silence, you take your mind back to the meeting with Director Fury a few weeks back, the yelling, Bruce's harsh words. You nod to yourself and walk over to Loki, sitting down on the glass table beside his feet. He looks up, visibly uncomfortable by the sudden close contact. He places his feet on the floor and straightens up.