Who are you? (A Loki Love Story)

Chapter Thirty Three - Fury's Fury

        "What the hell were you thinking?!" Fury yells. I flinch and keep my head down. Everyone is sitting around a big conference table except Fury, who is pacing beside my chair. "No, you know what? I take that stupid question back. You obviously weren't thinking at all!" I attempted to say something.
        "I was just-"
        "Oh I know what you were "Just" Doing. You were just endangering SHIELD, your team, the four, even some civilians!" He interrupts, still yelling. Something snaps inside my brain. I stand up quickly, and my chair skids back before falling over. Everyone's heads snap up at the sudden sound.
        "WOULD YOU SHUT UP FOR A SECOND AND LET ME EXPLAIN?!" I yell. My skin is orange with the swirling red. Both of my fists have burst into flames at my sides, and Fury is startled by my sudden outburst. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the look of utter shock and awe on Sue, Reed, and Ben's faces. On Johnny's face though, is just a smirk of appreciation. Beside him, Loki's jaw clenches, and the hand he has on the table is clenched into a fist. He glares at Johnny. Did something happen between them? My attention goes back to Fury. "Did they even show you the note I left?" I ask.
        "She left a note?" Fury asks Clint in a low voice. "First, I don't find out that she has left until a week after she is gone, and you don't even think to tell me that she left a note?" Clint quickly gets up, and he returns to the room a moment later, note in hand. By the time Fury has the note in his hand, I've calmed down enough to put out the fire around my fists and dim my skin a little. I watch him read the note, and at one point, a look of what almost seems like surprise flits across his face. When he finally looks up from the note though, his face is back to it's angry demeanor. "This isn't going to change anything."
        "Of course not." I scoff. By now, my skin is back to it's normal hue.
        "You are still going to have to face the consequences of leaving." He says. "I've already got your punishment set." I raise my eyebrows at that. "The rest of the Avengers are going on a mission. It's going to take a while for them to complete. While they are gone, you are staying here." He pauses, and glances at Loki. "On Loki babysitting duty." I see Loki roll his eyes, and I laugh.
        "You're joking." I say. He glares at me.
        "You and Loki will stay at the tower. You won't leave unless you have my say so. You will have agents checking in on you, and this tower has so many sensors and cameras, that if you even step a toe outside, me, and the rest of your team will be immediately alerted."
        "Why do you think I wouldn't let him leave? Or that he wouldn't let me leave. Hmm?" I ask.
        "As much as you don't want to be here, you wouldn't risk having him let loose on the world." He turns to Loki. "And he wants you here for some reason, or else he wouldn't have helped us bring you back here." I risk a glance over at Loki. He smirks and raises an eyebrow when he catches me, and I quickly look away. The exchange doesn't go unnoticed. Fury, Nat and Tony all see it. Fury glances between the two of us. "And I will find out why you want her here." He says.
        "Oh, I don't doubt that." Loki says in his smooth voice. Fury ignores the comment and turns to the Four.
        "We will have to ask you to come back later, after everything is sorted out. You can help Sophie with her training then." He says the last part to Johnny and I raise my eyebrows at him. He waves at me, and halfway through the wave, his hand bursts into flame. My eyes widen, and he puts it out, stands up, and follows the rest of his team out the door.
        About a minuet after they leave, Fury speaks again. "I want you all to report to headquarters tomorrow at noon." He says. After a second, he adds, "Not you two." He looks pointedly at Loki and I.
        "Well duh." I say, rolling my eyes. Loki chuckles, and I smile at him. Fury rolls his eye and storms out. We sit in silence. A very, very uncomfortable silence. I feel their stares on me, and I sink low in my chair, avoiding eye contact. After what feels like hours, I risk taking a look at the clock. I've been sitting here for..... Three minuets.
        "Soooooo, uh.... I guess I'll just go to my room... or something." I say nervously, getting up. I don't even take a step.
        "Sit. Down." Nat says, in a low dark voice. I don't think I've ever moved that fast. "You are going to answer our questions." I look down guiltily, and her voice softens. "We deserve that much, don't we?"
        "You do." I say quietly.
        "Then what is with the green hair?" Tony asks before anyone can say anything. Everyone glares at him. "What?" He asks innocently. I let out a little laugh.
        "Um, ok then." I say, and their focus is back on me. "It actually wasn't my color choice. I wasn't allowed to see my hair until Kim was finished. She had some weird surprise thing." I quickly shut my mouth when I realize that I just told them about Kim.
        "Kim? That name sounds familiar..." Steve says, trailing off.
        "It should. You met her." I clamp my hand over my mouth. Dang it Sophie. Shut up! They all look at me confused.
        "What do you mean?" Steve asks. I'm quiet until Nat raises an eyebrow at me, waiting for my response. I sigh.
        "Yea, you met her. She was obsessing over Captain freaking America, and not Tony Stark." I see Tony and Steve's eyes go wide with recognition at the words.
        "How did you know she said that?" Bruce asks. "You just used her exact words."
        "Ummm." I look down at the table.
        "You kept in contact with her?" Clint asks, surprised.
        "Not exactly." I say. I could feel the guilt on my face. "I way or may not have..... been there?" I say.
        "What?" Tony asks.
        "Actually, I think I was like, five feet away from the door." I say.
        "What?" Tony asks again. "There is no way."
        "I was in the kitchen. Eating bacon." I pause, and It is silent. "It  was very good bacon too." I add. Bruce, Tony, and Steve all have the same dumbfound expression on their faces. I see Clint trying to fight back a laugh at them, and there is a slight tug on the corner of Nat's mouth.
        "You are telling me, that we were five feet away from getting you two weeks ago?" Bruce asks. I nod.
        "You were this close." I say, holding up my hand with my thumb and index finger less than a millimeter apart. None of them looked amused, but I laughed.
        I spend the next hour answering and dodging a few questions. They finally let me go back to my room, and I've never been so glad for a shower. I hadn't showered in almost two weeks, and the hot water beating down on me felt amazing. I stayed in there for a while, scrubbing every inch of my body until all the dirt was gone, and washing through my hair about ten times. It was apparently permanent dye, because it didn't come out. I went back to my room and changed into new, clean clothes. I wore blue jeans and a t-shirt that said "Why do they call it "Tourist season" If I can't shoot them?"
        I went down through the living room and to the kitchen, looking for something to eat. I hadn't properly eaten in hours...well, it was more like days. Depends on what you call properly eating. I was digging around in the fridge when I heard a gasp behind me. My head shot up, and hit the top of the inside of the refrigerator. I stood up, rubbing the back of my head. "Ow." I mumble under my breath. I look around and see Pepper standing in the doorway, staring at me wide eyed. "Oh, hey Pepper." I say.
        She rushes over to me and engulfs me in a hug. "Oh. Ok. Um Pepper. I kinda need to breathe." I say as she squeezes me tightly. She pulls back, but keeps her hands on my shoulders, scanning me for injuries.
        "Where have you been? Why did you leave? Oh my lord your hair! When did you get back?" She fusses over me, and I try to explain the best I can.
        "I actually only got back a few hours ago." I finish. When I look up at her, I see her studying me.
        "You know, you don't actually look half bad with green hair." I smile and roll my eyes.
        "Kim would love to hear that." I say.
        "Why don't you call her then?" Pepper asks. I pause. Why not? I do have her number memorized.
        "Why not?" I ask. "Jarvis?"
        "Yes Ma'am?" The AI answers. I look over at Pepper. "Would you want to talk to her as well?"
        "Why not?" She says with a smile.
        "Jarvis, call ***-***-****." I say, listing off her number. "Over speaker phone in this room."
        "Yes Ma'am." He says. The phone starts to ring, waiting for her to pick up.
        "Yello. Kim here."
        "Hey Kim."
        "Who is this?" She asks curiously.
        "I-I can't believe you don't remember me." I say, faking sadness.
        "Oh. Um. I'm sorry?"
        "I mean, I'm only the hitchhiker who your grandfather let stay at your house. You even lied to the Avengers for me." I hear a gasp of shock, and I smile at Pepper.
        "Sophie?" I had told her and Greg my real name before I had left.
        "Yep. Got it in one shot." I say. there is silence. I look over at Pepper. "Do you think the signal was lost?" I ask.
        "I CANT BELIEVE YOU!" Kim screeches through the phone. Pepper and I both flinch at the loud noise. Even though the call is limited to this room, I would bet that someone else heard that.
        "What?" I ask when the ringing in my ear stops.
        "You have been gone for two weeks, and we don't hear a thing. I can't believe you would do that." She says, and I can hear the hurt in her voice.
        "I know right? She isn't the type of person you would expect to do that." Pepper says. I look at her in surprise.
        "Exactly! Thank you.... random person."
        "I'm Pepper Pots, Tony's girlfriend." She introduces herself.
        "I don't think that is the best first impression to make, but I do like you already Miss Potts." Kim says, and Pepper and I laugh.
        "It probably isn't, and You can call me Pepper." We three talk for the next hour, laughing at the most random things. I can tell that Pepper and Kim really like each other. Pepper and I are so focused on the conversation, that we don't even notice the others at the doorway.
        "I still can't believe you told Tony that he didn't matter compared to Steve." Pepper says, laughing.
        "I know I was there, but I never got to see his face, which is really disappointing." I say, smiling widely.
        "It was priceless!" Kim says with a laugh.
        "Was it?" Both Pepper and I's heads snap up at Tony's voice, and I see him and the rest of the avengers in the doorway. "Actually, it was. My face is always priceless."
        "Ugh. You didn't tell me that Tony was actually there." Kim says. The others file in behind Tony and take seats.
        "And..... Now all of the Avengers are here." I say without any enthusiasm.
        "R-Really?" Kim stutters, and I sigh.
        "Have your fangirl moment before you explode." I say.
        "Nope. I'm going to wait until I meet them in person." she says.
        "When do you think you will meet us?" Clint asked.
        "Ummm, somewhere between tomorrow and next Friday. I'm in New York right now."
        "Oh! When do you think you can come by?" I say, excited.
        "Wait, hold up. My tower, my rules." Tony says, speaking up. "And you are still in trouble for leaving, so why should I let her come?"
        "Who said I was going to listen to you? I'm coming whether you like it or not." Kim said, a challenge in her tone. "I'm going to go now, you wore  my phone battery down. Bye!" She hangs up quickly, leaving Tony once again speechless.