In Little Ways

Prologue

"I'm hooked on a feeling! I'm high on believing-" Cecilia hoisted the box into her arms, only shaking slightly at its weight.

Hooked on a Feeling blasted into her ears as she walked towards the elevator from the nanotechnology level in the Stark tower. She began dancing as soon as the elevator closed behind her, unaware of the alien attacks just outside and the man she was headed right towards who was leading them.

As the door opened to Tony's penthouse, Cecilia continued humming and wandered in, catching out of the corner of her eye a person she assumed was Tony. He was, after all, in the typical Tony pose, arms splayed out wide, perfect white teeth shining.

"Hey, Tony! I just finished an idea for the suit and decided to bring up the designs; maybe you could help me with this box? It's pretty heavy!" She yelled, just barely hearing herself over the music. After a few seconds of no response, she sighed and tried to put it down neatly before tripping. Cecilia cried out in shock as her box fell to the ground, papers flying everywhere.

"Tony! You are acting like such a dick right now!" She yelled, scrambling to collect the papers as they all began to float towards the large hole in the glass wall. Just as she grabbed a sheet, she looked up, seeing monsters whizzing past, buildings on fire, people screaming, and a giant hole in the sky.

"Holy shit! Tony, what the hell is-" At this moment, she noticed an unmistakable red and gold suit fly past the window, followed by a ginormous snake-like monster. Cecilia stumbled away from the window, her eyes widening as she realized that if Tony was out there, that must mean that someone entirely different was in here with her.

Slowly reaching up to pluck her headphones from her ears, she turned to see that the person she had been speaking to all this time was none other than the God of Mischief himself, Loki Odinson.

"Um...you're not Tony..." Cecilia whispered, her voice shaking slightly as she tried to move further from him. Loki smirked and stepped towards her, already so much closer than she felt comfortable with.

"No, but I'm so much better, darling." He purred, and Cecilia chuckled awkwardly, looking for a way out.

"Huh, are you sure about that?" She asked mockingly, and the smirk on his face slowly slid away. It almost seemed like no one had ever responded to him with sarcasm, but he quickly recovered, a more sinister smirk came forward.

"Well, if he is so much better, why don't you stay here with me, then he can save you." He took another step forward to close the space between them, and Cecilia tried to get away, her foot slipping out of the broken window. She gasped as a piece of glass cut into her calf before she was swiftly yanked back into the room and Loki's chest. She looked up at him to find him looking at her with a strangely concerned look in his eye, although the moment passed quickly as he noticed her confused look because he quickly switched back to cocky.

"Can't have my bait dying, can I?" He whispered, and Cecilia struggled to swallow around her suddenly dry throat.

"U-uh...let me go." She whispered, and Loki pulled her back into the room, the lights glinting off of his armor and helmet. He pretended not to hear her and sat her down in a chair, almost softly, before he crouched to look at the cut on her leg. Cecilia gasped as he tore the leg of the jeans away from the cut, about mid-thigh, before he put his hand on the cut. She whimpered in pain before she felt almost as if stitches were being placed there. When Loki pulled his hand away, she looked down to see that the large gash had been replaced with a pink scar. She reached down to touch it, confused.

"I also can't have Stark kill me the moment he arrives, now can I? You seem to be close to him, so I will not have you ruining my plans by making that nasty cut be my fault." Then he waved his hand and walked away, leaving her now wrapped tightly in golden chains that appeared in the blink of an eye.

"Hey! You can't just tie me up! Let me go you-you...jerk! You monster! You...asshat!" Loki chuckled and walked towards the bar as she continued her verbal assault. As she realized that he wasn't listening anymore, she changed instead to call for help.

"That's perfect, Princess. That is exactly what I want you to do. Just keep screaming." He said, pouring himself a glass of brandy. Cecilia immediately stopped and glared at him, blushing as she suddenly imagined him telling her that under another circumstance. She felt her cheeks redden, and she tried to turn her face away as he began to notice, cursing him and her mind for the current situation.

"Oh, what do we have here? What are you thinking about, Princess?" He purred, sauntering over to her, still holding the glass lazily in his hand. Cecilia kept her eyes on the ground as he crept closer, willing her mind to think of literally anything else.

"Were you imagining me? Well, obviously you were, why wouldn't you? But what was I doing? Was I kissing you? Or maybe, I was making love to you? Hmm, that was probably it. You are getting much redder." Cecilia could feel the heat spreading, very disappointed in herself for the shiver that traveled down her spine at his words. She could hear the smirk in his voice, then suddenly she felt fingers touch the underside of her chin, lifting her face to look into his striking emerald eyes.

"Hello, princess. You know it's coarse not to look at someone when they speak to you. You should be punished." His voice fell into a whisper once again as he spoke, and Cecilia gasped softly as she realized he was slowly leaning towards her. His eyes glanced down at her lips quickly before he smirked. Just as she felt his lips begin to press onto hers, he was yanked away from her. Cecilia looked on in surprise as Loki was thrown against the wall by Tony, and she gasped in a breath as Tony stomped over to her, then cut the chains away, offering her his gauntlet to help her stand.

"Thank you, Tony." She said, taking his hand and noticing the glance he made at her torn pant leg and her bright red cheeks.

"Get out of here, Lia. I'll take care of him." Tony said, his voice sounding slightly mechanical through the suit's speakers. Cecilia nodded and glanced at the prince one last time before running to the elevator. As the doors closed behind her, she caught Loki looking over at her, and she shot him a glare, to which he smirked. Then the elevator doors closed, and he was gone.