Loki Laufeyson - The Experiment {1}

Chapter Twenty Three - New Place

"Whoa, Emily." Said an alarmed, but tired voice as the door slid open to reveal all of the Avengers, with Tony at the front, still in his suit, which was looking a little battered. "It's just us." I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief before I became aware that my whole body was covered in flame. My eyes widened in alarm and I quickly jumped out of the wooden chair, which thankfully wasn't burnt too badly, just a couple of scorch marks. I fisted my hands and closed my eyes, trying to draw the power back in. When I opened my eyes and my flames were back under control, all of the Avengers had scattered around the room, most of them flopping down onto the no longer clean couch with bag scattered all around them. Pepper made her way over to me, holding a black overnight bag out to me.

"This is just some of your stuff." She said as I hesitantly took the bag. "I grabbed as much as I could." Confused, I set down the bag, kneeling down next to it and opening up the zipper to reveal an assortment of clothes that had been hanging up in my cupboard back at the Tower. I looked back up at Pepper in surprise.

"This isn't my stuff though." My eyebrows furrowed slightly, zipping up the bag and standing up, holding it back out to her. She just shook her head, pushing the bag back towards me.

"Nonsense." She smiled gently. "This stuff is yours now." I blinked at her before offering her a small smile, still uneasy about taking all of the stuff. I opened my mouth to thank her but Tony interrupted from where he was standing in the middle of the room, still in his suit, but his head was visible.

"Rooms are up the stairs," he said, his voice tired and strained, "it is the first part of the first level, the second half is my office, but none of you should need to go in there." Everybody began to very slowly climb off the couch, or in Clint's case, roll off, before they picked up their bags again and make their way to the stairs. None of them chattered, looking bone tired and I hated to imagine what resistance they faced from HYDRA. I immediately felt guilty, they had done it all for me, and I didn't deserve it.

"Do you want me to heal your cuts?" Asked a voice from next to me where Pepper had been standing a couple of moments ago, but there was now Loki, looking as exhausted as the others, but it was obvious he was trying to hide it. My hand tightened on the handles of my overnight bag, and I met his eyes briefly before looking away.

"I'm okay." I said in an almost whisper. There was an uncomfortable silence between us, where I was debating between following the rest of the Avengers but I didn't want to exactly seem rude and just leave Loki standing there, even if he had just left me alone in an unfamiliar building.

"I'm sorry for before." He sighed heavily after a couple of moments. "I know I scared you. I suppose I was just... worried about what HYDRA would do if they got their hands on you again." I looked up at him briefly before nodding softly.

"Are the others okay?" I asked softly. "They weren't badly hurt?"

"It was mainly just scrapes and bruises," he replied, "nothing too bad. You're probably the worst off, you were the closest to the chandelier when it fell." His eyes darted over the crusted blood on my face. "Are you sure you don't want me to heal them?"

"I'm okay." I repeated, shaking my head again and shifting my grip on the overnight bag again. "I'll just wash them." He nodded and nodded up to the stairs, the Avengers long gone.

"We should probably grab a room." He said and I nodded, hanging slightly behind him as we walked towards the stairs.

"You know Stark made me take you first." He said after a couple of seconds of silence. "I wouldn't have left the others behind if I had a choice." I nodded softly, keeping my eyes trained on the stairs, trying to make sure I didn't trip.

"Well... I might have left Barton behind...." Loki grinned slightly and I looked up at him, smiling softly.

"Why do you hate him so much?" I asked curiously.

"He's cocky and arrogant and selfish and I just hate him." Loki replied quickly like he barely had to think about it. I raised my eyebrow slightly at his quick reaction, knowing there was more to the story and he paused for a moment.

"I may have given him a hard time when I first met him..." he grinned "But then it is his fault now because he is the one who continues to hate me and so I hate him back." I shook my head, smiling softly before we reached the top of the staircase where there was a small hallway that ended with a fancy statue that no doubt cost several million but looked like it was worth about twenty dollars and had been made by a five-year-old. That was something that I had learnt from the little time I had spent at the Tower, Tony liked to have a lot of expensive things, even if they had no actual purpose.

On both of the hallway walls were doors, most of them open as the Avengers dragged bags in from the outside.

"They are all the same." Nat poked her head out of one room, the first to notice Loki and I.. "Just pick whichever one you want and decorate it with whatever you have." She ducked back inside and my eyes fell on a shut door farthest away from the staircase, next to Wanda's. Loki and I split off and I walked over to the shut door, knocking on it quietly to make sure there was no one already in it before I opened it up.

I knew it would have looked plain to a normal person, but after living in a plain white cell for most of my life, it looked like heaven to me. It was about the size of my other room in Stark Tower, maybe just the slightest bit bigger. Against the left wall, which was painted a soft white, was a double bed with a puffy white blanket draped over a grey duvet and an assortment of black and grey pillows. The bed-head and bottom of the bed were made out of a dark grey fabric, complementing the off-white carpet floors. Underneath the bed, there was a plush white carpet that was similar to the blanket on the bed and made me want to just roll around on it.

On either side of the bed, there were white wooden bedside tables both with a small bright green fake plant who's leaves trailed across the table and down the sides, adding a splash of colour. There were also similar plants on the decorative wooden ledge quite far up the wall the bed head was on. There were also green plants, but of a different type, on the table under the massive TV screen which I had a hard time believing was for me.

But what caught my attention was the big balcony that took up the whole wall opposite the doorway, the massive windows stretching across the whole space, with sheer white curtains drawn to the side of them. I slowly walked over to the door and slid it open, immediately hit with the sound of wind moving through the pine trees and the earthy smell of the forest. I smiled softly and breathed in deeply, trying to take a moment to relax before a knock at my door caused me to turn around.

"Bruce finished modifying these the other day." Tony smiled at me, holding out a new pair of black bracelets, slightly thinner this time. "I figured you might still need them, even though you've got pretty good control of your power. Its jut with HYDRA attacking my Tower..." He trailed off and I nodded, walking over to him and slowly taking them from him. They felt the same as my old ones, and when I slid them onto my wrists and tightened them, I felt the familiar restricting of my power, but it was a welcome feeling.

"Thank you." I said softly. "For everything." I looked up at him and he offered me a small smile.

"No problem kiddo." He replied. "You should probably wash the blood off your face. It's not exactly a pleasant sight." He grinned and patted me on the back, causing me to crack a bigger smile. He turned around, about to walk away, when he paused and turned back around.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly. "After everything that happened back there? And I don't mean physically." I swallowed a small lump in my throat and looked down at my bracelets as I fiddled with them before I looked back up at him.

"Yeah." I gave him a small smile. "I'm okay.