Firebird by NorseFan1

Chapter 4

Ana and Jane quickly became good friends, both sharing the fact they bore rune marks on their skin. Jane had introduced Ana to both Darcy and Pepper too, who she also really liked. She still found it strange that she had more than two friends almost a month later. Then, she found herself roped into attending a Stark Industries fundraiser, which apparently Tony had pulled all the Avengers into attending. As well as Loki. He had told her what had led to him having to help the Avengers, and while she wasn't happy he had tried to take over the world, she realized he was trying to reform and resolved to support and help him. And keeping him from being driven to insanity in a party would probably stop him from murdering any guest who annoyed him.

However, agreeing to go caused a problem, and she had to resort to calling on Jane, Pepper and Darcy.

"You said you had a wardrobe problem?" Darcy asked.

"I have two dresses I could wear, but I don't know which one to choose," Ana replied. She pulled them out of her wardrobe. She had bought both of them cheap in a sale and were the nicest clothes she owned. The first was red, with gold trim and went to her knees. The second was silk and a dark pink. It fitted snugly to her body and ended just above her knees. "So, which one?"

"Has Loki explained the links with colour?" Jane asked.

"No, why?"

"They have certain colours associated with them. Thor is red and silver for example and sometimes blue, mostly red. You've probably noticed Loki's always wearing green. Green and gold and black are Loki's colours," Jane explained.

"The pink one it is," she said.

Pepper shook her head. "Put them both away. We're going out and getting you a new dress."

Ana shook her head. "I won't be able to."

"Yes you will. It's on me."

"I couldn't do that," Ana said.

"Yes you can. Trust me, this will cost nothing. I'll get all four dresses and the accessories," with that, she and Darcy dragged Jane and Ana from the apartment.

"So," Darcy asked a few hours later, "How's it going with you and Loki?"

Ana smiled. "It's great," her smile fell then, "but I'm struggling to tell him about my life before I came to New York. I've never told anyone everything before, and I want to. I've tried, but I can just never get it out."

"Does he know you're trying to tell him?" Pepper asked.

"He does," Ana nodded.

"Well, there's that at least," Jane said. "How about you try just closing your eyes and imagining you're alone, and then speaking out loud?"

Ana thought about it, and nodded. "Yeah, that might work. Because I want to tell him. It's just hard."

"How hard?" Pepper asked. "How bad was your life before?"

"Quite bad," Ana admitted.

Jane snorted. "Understatement from what I've seen," she said, "but that's over now. You don't have to worry about it."

It took them a couple of hours to get their dresses, and Ana barely had time to change before she had to go to work. Loki turned up two hours into her shift and took his now usual seat at the bar. He came regularly when she was working and waited for her shift to finish in order to walk her home. She smiled at him and poured him a whiskey, putting it on his tab for the night.