Turning Gears [Loki x OC] //DISCONTINUED\\

Five

It took a long while to get everyone into a suitable position around Loki on her floor. It was just a big circle around him, Aspen, and Fury. One of the Agents broke formation to remove Loki's binds with everyone at attention. Aspen felt a bit fed up at this point. It was quite obvious that Loki wasn't going to try anything at this point, and yet they treated him like he was volatile. He was too smart.

Loki was frustrated. He was tired of being carted around and chained up like an animal. Not to mention spending months in a cage without anything more than necessities. It was humiliating. His pride was bruised and shriveling away. It helped that there was at least one person trying to treat him like he was a living being. Aspen alone looked like she wanted to tear into someone for this. He appreciated that, at minimum.

Fury eyed Loki up and down a few times before turning to the captain of the SHIELD agents and giving a curt nod. "Alright people, lets move out and let these people get acquainted," he said, shooing everyone back down the way they came. The Avengers seemed to relax a bit at this and weapons were put away once more. 

"Aspen," Fury spoke next to her, motioning towards Loki with his hand. 

She nodded and stepped closer to Loki. He seemed to tense at her movements towards him. She was by no means any danger to him but she still made him uneasy. She reached out and took his wrist, which he didn't hesitate to snatch right back from her. She heard the Avengers tense up once again behind her, but she paid them no attention. "It's okay. I just need to input more code into your biobracelet," she spoke softly, like she was trying to calm a frightened animal. He kept his rigid posture, but let her take his arm once again. She input a few more code lines in, explaining as she went, "What I am doing here is giving you permissions into certain parts of the building. I'll explain in the tour after we finish up here. It'll also prevent you from leaving the tower. If you go near an out of bounds area, either JARVIS or ANA will warn you you are in a restricted area, and if you proceed into the room they will lock down the tower and set off alarms throughout. Okay?" She dropped his wrist and stepped away, helping him loosen a bit. 

"Yes," was all he said, face unchanging. Aspen couldn't read his expression to tell how he was feeling. She made a note to try and talk to him later. She didn't think it'd get very far, but she thought he might appreciate the thought at least. 

"Okay, is he all set?" Fury asked, getting impatient. He was secretly pleased with the outcome. He knew Aspen would be a calm and gentle force against Loki's brooding anger. Hopefully together they can do some amazing work. 

"Yeah, Director. He is stuck here. Which, by the way, still not okay. He can't learn anything from here," she pointed out to him for the trillionth time. Talking to Fury about anything was like talking to a brick wall, but she still tried anyway. Not when it involved her and someone's freedom.

"Yes, I heard you the first several times, Farris. This is the way it's going to be until he proves himself a worthy man of fresh air," he said, dismissing her with a turn of his back. 

"Alright ladies and gents, let's get a move on. They have work to do and can't do it with us staring them down," Rogers finally piped up, breaking the unusual silence from the team. 

Fury agreed and without further ado Aspen and Loki were left alone for the first time ever. Thick silence enveloped them like an uncomfortable blanket quickly. 

After so long, Aspen couldn't take any more of it and broke the silence, "well, why don't I show you around?"