Silence Speaks (Book Two to Silence Series)

Seven

That night, Loki fell asleep cuddled up next to me. We were shirtless before deciding to not go further, I think he sensed my nervousness. Truth is, I've never been in a consensual relationship, much less one where the person was gentle. Loki touched me like he truly believed that I was fragile and I loved it. I looked out the window of the living room and knew I needed to go on patrol. I didn't want to scare Loki by leaving, make him think I regretted anything. I quickly slipped out of his grip, kissing him on the cheek when I stood up. I grabbed a piece of paper from my bag and wrote a quick note, apologizing for leaving and emphasizing that I needed to go on patrol. I promised him that I'd be back.

I swung to a stop on top of a four story building and pulled my mask off. I panted slightly, out of breath from swinging nonstop for over an hour. There really wasn't an crime tonight, which surprised me but also made me happy. "Peter!" I yelped and stumbled back, falling to the sidewalk below. I landed straight on my back, a loud groan leaving my mouth. "Oh shit." Someone dropped down next to me and I found Sam standing over me. "H-Hey." I gasped. I had the wind knocked out of me and I was sure I really bruised my back. Thank god tomorrow is Saturday. "Woah are those hickeys?" Sam teased when he pulled me to my feet. I burned red and pulled my mask on to hide them. "Who's the lucky girl?" I rolled my eyes and Loki's face popped up as a call in my mask. "Guy actually." I answered the call quickly. "Hey Lo, what's up?" I winced when I leaned against the side of the building I just fell off of. "I figured you'd be back already. Are you okay?" I looked at Sam quickly before checking the time. "Ah shoot, I lost track of time. I'm okay, just hurt my back. I'm on my way." I promised and he hung up, leaving me to start swinging in the direction of my bike. "Was that him?" Sam teased as he followed me. "Yes." I got to my bike and climbed on. "I've got to go, I'll see you at dinner Monday." I said and Sam called for me to bring my 'special guy.'

I got to the house and I was nearly tackled with a hug. "Ah." I groaned when Loki's hands clasped around my bruised waist. "How bad?" He asked, retracting his hands. I pulled off my mask and decompressed my suit. I turned and Loki gently pressed his fingers to certain places. "Pete you're just a walking bruise. Here." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the couch. He lightly pushed me down onto my stomach. "Stay still." I put my head in my arms and stretched across the couch. He lightly placed his hands on the small of my back and a light warmth radiated from his hands. He worked his way up and with each passing second, the pain slowly faded to a dull throb. He placed his hands on my shoulders and leaned forward, pressing his lips to just under my ear. "It's the best I could do." I turned to face him and he smiled sheepishly. "C'mere." I mumbled and pulled him into me. We were as close as were going to get on the couch, which was basically him laying on me. "Thank you." I mumbled, my eyes slowly closing. "Go to sleep." He whispered and my eyes fluttered shut.

I woke up to the smell of bacon. I sat up, my back no longer hurting, besides some soreness from sleeping on the couch. I stood up and noticed my suit was still pooled around my waist. I could hear someone humming quietly in the other room. I crept into the kitchen and found Loki wearing one of my sweatshirts and a pair of sweats. I put my arms around his waist and pressed my face into his neck. "Morning." He mused and I sighed, liking the warmth radiating from him. "Go put some clothes on and I'll finish breakfast." I pouted and he turned to look at me. He rolled his eyes playfully and leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to my pout. "Better." I mumbled and removed my arms from him.

I ventured down to my lab while Loki holed himself in the living room, he had to study for a test. "Incoming video call from The Avengers." Karen warned and a holographic image popped up in front of my work space. "Peter!" A few people said excitedly. "Hey guys, what's up?" They act like I live in an another state, not twenty minutes away. "Just wanted to see you." Steve answered simply and I could see him looking around. "He's upstairs Steve." I answered, giving him a stern look. "Whatcha working on?" Tony asked, changing the subject from Loki. At that moment, one of the wires I was slowly curling sparked. "Ah shit." I muttered and pulled off my smoking shirt. "A hologram component for my laptop. It helps to see the physics projects in three-D." I answered Tony's question absentmindedly. "Hey Pete?" Loki called from the bottom of the steps. "Yeah?" I slid away from my project and to the steps. "I am going to go to work." He informed me and I hummed. "Okay, call me if you have any problems. Did you need a ride or..?" He shook his head and held out his fingers. "I'm just going to use handy magic. I'll see you after dinner." I nodded and he leaned forward, his hands cupping my face. He kissed me slowly. He pulled away and ruffled my hair. "Bye." I smiled and he disappeared upstairs. I walked back to the video call, a stupid smile on my face. "Peter who was that?" Natasha asked and I peered to the steps of the basement. "My roommate." My cheeks burned red and Sam burst out laughing. "Is that who gave you all those marks?" Tony's eyes widened and he had to slap his hand over Steve's mouth. "I plead the fifth."

The front door opened and Loki slinked into the living room. "Hey." He sat next to me on the couch, stretched out and put his head in my lap. "How was your first day?" He groaned and I smiled, my fingers finding their way into his hair. "Midguardians are so demanding. This one woman called for Frank because her coffee wasn't at the right temperature. She wanted it hot but not as hot as the machine makes them." I chuckled and he glared at me, though I knew he wasn't mad. "Yeah, I didn't like my job there, for different reasons than the rude customers." His fingers found their way to my exposed left forearm. "What happened?" I gulped and sighed.

"It happened almost a year ago. I...I was working at Queenie's right when I moved into the compound. I had just had surgery and a few days later was shot in the neck while on patrol. Well my coworker at the time, he somehow found out Spiderman was me. He had all these really outlandish details, that unless you really looked, you couldn't have deduced it was me. He used that to his advantage. He threatened to leak my identity if I hadn't gone through with what he wanted. The first time it happened, he dragged me away from school. After that, it continued everyday for five months. Constant sexual assualt. In that time, he grew more manipulative and abusive. In the last month, I tried to kill myself. Bruce found me and saved my life. My abuser was furious, he hit me for the first time. It was like that up until my seventeenth birthday, which was only three weeks after the first physical attack. He carved his name into my stomach with an eight inch butcher knife. That's when the truth came out and I was hospitalized and the police were called. Later that week, he had broke into the compound and attacked me again, carving the words 'mine' and 'freak' into my forearms. He was convicted and because of his powers, he was sent to a mutant prison. The cuts...those are of my own doing. I didn't want other people thinking I was weak and that he had any authority over me. So I destroyed the evidence. I nearly died doing it. Almost four months ago, I visited him in prison and punched him, breaking his nose in three places."

"I'm sorry." I shook my head with a small smile. "In the end, I met you didn't I?"