Quinn and the Avengers

Chapter Five

Hi guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter- no spanking, but that'll come soon!

Quinn was up at five the next morning, and her arm wasn't hurting at all, so she decided to go for a run. Besides, Steve would be fine with it now so there wasn't really anything to lose.
She changed into sweats and a hoodie, because it was a bit cooler out than on other days, and ran down the stairs, two at a time. She quickly scrawled a note saying where she'd gone and left it on the bench, saying that she would be back by seven.
The piney smell of the woods calmed Quinn as she jogged on the path, but she still felt on edge. As if someone was watching her. She sped up, but wads unable to shake the feeling. Whenever she turned around, all she saw was empty path and trees. She focused on getting to the lake, listening to the sound of running water to guide her. She made it there and jogged around it a few times before heading back into the woods. As soon as she was in the trees again, the feeling that someone was watching her came back full force, and she felt seriously creeped out.
"Hello?" She called. No answer. "If there's someone there, I've already left a note inside. I'm fine, you can go back to sleep." She began jogging again, but stopped once more as she heard a crackle of leaves underfoot in front of her. Without thinking, she began sprinting away, spooked, and looking back to see if anything was chasing her. She kept running, looking behind her all the time, until she bumped headfirst into someone's chest. She jumped back, rubbing her head, and took in the leather at eye-level. "Were you following me this entire time?"
"No, you aren't that interesting. But I was out walking and it became rather fun, taunting you. You looked very frightened." Loki replied smugly. Quinn frowned and put her hands on her hips.
"That was mean." She said accusingly. Loki shrugged.
"That sounds as if it's your problem, not mine." He smiled.
"Yeah, but you caused it! I think you should apologise." Quinn scowled as Loki laughed out loud. "Asshole." She whispered under her breath.
"That isn't very polite, especially to someone who healed you arm only yesterday." Loki said.
"Oh. Right. Thank you for that." Quinn said awkwardly. Loki nodded. "But you're still an asshole." She said quickly, and ran back to the house before Loki could say another word.

Steve was in the kitchen, making breakfast, and he smiled when Quinn came in. "Good morning." He said pleasantly.
"Morning. Did you see my note?' Quinn tightened her ponytail and sat at the bench on one of the three stools.
"I did, good job on that." Quinn blushed at the compliment and self-consciously tucked some hair behind her ear. "Why are you so flustered?" Steve asked.
"I just went out for a run. I'm tired." She lied, stealing a piece of bacon off the tray.
"Hey." Steve reprimanded lightly, then turned back to the stove. "I meant, something's wrong. You're usually in a good mood after you work out. What happened?"
"Loki was just being mean. It's fine, I'm okay."
"Well, if that's all you'll say. But I want you to stay away from him, okay? He's more dangerous than you realise, and you can't trust him." Steve warned, serving a huge heap of eggs onto a tray as well.
"I get that, but in most cases I don't go looking for him. He finds me. I'm not going to try and hang out with him, but he's constantly lurking around me." Quinn explained. Steve nodded.
"Alright. If you'd like me to, I can have a word with him."
"It's fine. It doesn't matter. I'm going to shower, then I'll come and eat." Quinn slid off her stool and ran up the stairs. For some reason, Steve caring about her had actually started to feel better than before. She wasn't nervous or awkward around him like she used to be- things were easier, just like he said they'd be.

"I want to go swimming in the lake." Quinn announced to the group of people around the table.
"It's raining." Tony said, pointing outside. He was right; everything was soaked, and there was no hope of any more 'Avengers Olympics' today.
"I'm going to get wet anyway." Quinn said.
"You're going to catch a cold if you go out. Why don't you stay in and watch a movie in the cinema?" Steve suggested. Quinn wrinkled her nose.
"I want to swim. I won't catch a cold, the water'll still be warm from yesterday. Please?" Steve sighed.
"You can go after lunch. Until then, everyone's going to have a meeting in the living room." He said.
"Oh. Is everything okay?" Quinn asked worriedly.
"Yeah, we just have a couple of things to discuss." He replied. This didn't really ease Quinn's worry, but she decided to shut up about it anyways.
Bit by bit, everyone trickled down into the kitchen and took breakfast- apart from Loki, he came through the back door and declined food. Quinn flashed him a couple of dirty looks, but stopped after a while when she didn't get a reaction.