Who are you? (A Loki Love Story)

Chapter Thirty Six - Days Alone

        I got into my training gear and headed down to the towers training room. "Jarvis, start my workout playlist." I say, and the music instantly starts up. It's been three days since the team has left for their mission, and I've dived into putting myself back through training since there isn't much else to do. Loki has been cooped up in the library most days, not giving me anything to talk to.
        I run around the track, putting a few miles under my belt for the day, before going over to the punching bags. I had only destroyed a few since the first time they had seen. Tony had been trying to develop a fabric that held up To Steve and I, but all of his attempts had failed. He finally gave up, and just used the fabric that had held up the best so he wouldn't have to buy as many replacements. I wrapped up my knuckles before I started wailing on the bag, letting go of my frustration and anger I had felt the past few days. All of it over Fury, the team, Dr.Fuller, Loki. Everything. I put the last of my anger into a roundhouse kick, splitting the bag and knocking it off the hook.
        "Impressive." A cool voice says from behind me. I spin around at the sound of Loki's voice and see him standing a few feet away. I rolled my eyes and started unwrapping my hands, not really noticing the small cuts that were on my knuckles anyway, despite the cloth.
        "So why'd you finally come out of your little nest of books?" I ask, walking past him and over to the boxing ring.
        "I heard a loud commotion, and came to investigate. What is that, anyway?" He asks.
        "Music. But, very awesome music that I train too." I say. "Jarvis, you can shut it off now." The music cuts off, and I slip through the ropes and into the ring.
        "That was noise, not music." Loki says, taking a few steps towards the ring.
        "Oh, its music. You just have to listen. Pay attention to the words and feel the beat." I say. "You coming up?" I ask, motioning to the ring. He cocks an eyebrow.
        "Excuse me?" He asks.
        "You know. To fight! Hand to hand combat! Greeny vs. Sophie, who will come out victorious?" I say, getting louder with every word. I looked over at him, and he was chuckling and shaking his head.
        "I won't fight you." He says.
        "You didn't have a problem with it before. You threw me out a window!" I exclaim.
        "Are you really dwelling on that? It was so long ago, and you did survive." He points out. I roll my eyes.
        "That's not the point." I say. "Oh wait. I get it. You're afraid to lose against me." I say with a smirk. He glares at me.
        "I am not. I do not want to waste what little energy it would take to over power you." He says in a low voice.
        "If it's only a little energy, then it shouldn't bother you." I say, crossing my arms over my chest and waiting. We stare at each other for a few more moments before he sighs and slips into the ring. "Yes!" I cheer. "Time for me to take you down!"
        "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.
        "Positive." I reply. I lunge at him unexpectedly, catching him by surprise. He steps to the side, but my fist catches his shoulder. He grabs my arm and forces it around, pinning it behind my back.
        "Alright then." I hear him say under his breath. I kick him in the shin, and his grip loosens. I spin around, my foot out for a kick. It catches him in the stomach, and he lets out a little huff of air. He grabs my foot, flipping me around, and I fall to the floor, landing on my back. I kick my legs out, sweeping his out from underneath him. He lands on his back as well, giving me enough time to scramble to my feet. By the time I'm on my feet though, he is on his. We exchange a few punches and kicks, but we keep blocking them. I had forgotten that he still had his speed and strength. Only most of his powers had been taken. His fist came at me, and I grabbed it, flipping him. He lands on the floor, and I have him pinned in a few seconds.
        "Ha! I win!" I say when I catch my breath. He smirks, confusing me. He suddenly flips me over so that he's the one pinning me. I struggle for a few moments before I realize that he has me fully immobilized.
        "I think I won, love." He says, smirk still on his face. I let out a huff of annoyance. "Now what was that about me losing to you?" I roll my eyes.
        "Ugh. Whatever. Can you get off me now?" I ask. We hadn't moved an inch off the floor.
        "No." He says. I raise an eyebrow at him questioningly.
        "Excuse me?" I ask.
        "You know, the last time we were this close-" He starts, leaning in a little.
        "Was a dream." I say, voice cold.
        "You kissed me." He points out, his smooth voice never wavering.
        "I thought it was a dream." I say in my defense. I had been hoping that this wouldn't come up.
        "Would you have done different if you had known?" He ask. After a moment he adds, "Actually, I did tell you that it was really me in the dream."
        "Oh come on. If you had been me, wouldn't you have thought it was just some weird dream too?" I ask.
        "You didn't answer my question." He says.
        "And you just avoided mine. Your point?" I ask.
        "I'll answer yours if you answer mine." He counters. I roll my eyes.
        "Ok, back to our ever present agreement." I say. "In truth. I have no idea. What happened, happened because of what was going on. None of it would have been the same if we were in a different situation, so the truth is that I don't know." I finish, and he just looks at me. "Your turn." I say after a moment of silence.
        "Probably." He says.
        "Wait-What?" I ask.
        "You asked me that if I were you, would I have thought it was just a dream. I'm saying that I probably would. Satisfied?" he asks.
        "Nope." I say, popping the "p". He raises an eyebrow in question. "You've still got me pinned. Would you please get off of me?" He chuckles, but proceeds to stand up. He holds out a hand to help me to my feet. I ignore it and stand up, rushing myself off. I go to walk past him but he grabs my arm. I turn and look up at him, and see a red mark forming along the edge of his jaw. I frown and reach up, my fingertips brushing against it.
        "Did I do that?" I ask. He slowly nods.
        "One of your fists missed their mark." He says, a dark chuckle still in his voice.
        "C'mon." I say, dragging him towards the elevator. We go up to the kitchen, and I put some ice into a towel and give it to him. He takes it and looks at it curiously.
        "What am I supposed to do with this?" He asks, holding it up.
        "Um. Put it on your bruise?" I say. Has he really never needed an ice pack before? "It will help stop the swelling" I add when he continues to just sit there. After another minuet, I give up and take it from him, putting it on the now clearly forming bruise. "There. Better?" I ask. Before he can respond, Jarvis speaks.
        "Miss Crest, there is a agent of SHIELD at the elevator. She says she is here for the weekly check in. Do you wish for me to let her up?"
        "Yea, let her up Jarvis." I say. The little lights above the elevator start to wink upwards. "Now keep the ice on your face. I'll go talk to the agent." I say. He takes the towel, and I walk towards the elevator doors. When the doors open, Maria Hill walks out, a smile on her face.
        "Maria!" I exclaim, running up to hug her. She hugs me, and pulls away after a moment.
        "Sophie! It's been months since i've seen you! how have you been, other than the whole running away thing." She pauses. "I still have to get on you about that." I groan.
        "Please don't. I know you already know everything, cause Fury tells you everything." I say, and she laughs. "I do. But still, don't do it again." I roll my eyes at that.
        "Doubt i'd get the chance. Fury's got me under a pretty tight leash." She nods and stands up a little straighter.
        "About that. I'm supposed to check in on you." She pauses. "So everything is going ok?" She asks.
        "Yep everythings fine. Boring, but fine." I say with a nod. She raises her eyebrows as she looks over me and at Loki. Who was still holding the ice pack to his face.
        "Mhm. Is that why Loki has a ice pack on his face?" I cringe a little.
        "It was a stray punch." She looks over at me. "We were sparring! It wasn't on purpose!" I exclaim.
        "Why were you sparring?" She asks.
        "Because there is nothing to do around here! We're so boorreedd." I say. She rolls her eyes.
        "It's better than at base." She says.
        "Can't argue with that." I say, and we both laugh a little. 
        "Alright. Director Fury told me to get back as soon as possible. I'll tell him that you're both good. Okay?" She asks. I nod, and she looks over at Loki. "Are you good?" He rolls his eyes, but nods. "Great. Well, I've got to get back. I'll see you next week."
        "You're doing the check ins?" I ask.
        "I will be most of the time. It may be someone else if I can't get away, but I'll make sure it's someone you know."
        "Thanks." I say, a relieved smile on my face. We say goodbye, and she leaves us alone again. Maria had been one of the few SHIELD agents that I had made friends with. Most agents hadn't "approved" of a teenager running around and living at the base, so I had tried to make friedns with the few people that acctually talked to me. Even now, at twenty, I only had a handful of agents that I considered friends, not counting any of the Avengers.
        I left Loki in the kitchen, heading to my room so I could clean up after my wokout and spar. I walked back into the kitchen afterwords, my hair still damp since I had decided to let my hair air dry. When my hair was wet, you could see it's full length. It reached all the way down my back, stopping right before it hit my butt. When it was dry though, my hair curled up, and it only reached halfway down my back. I've been told by several people that it looks awesome when it's on fire.  Speaking of that. My hair was still green. Ugh. Don't get me wrong, it didn't look bad, but I wanted my blond hair back.
        "What do you want to eat for dinner tonight?" I ask Loki. He was still in the kitchen, but was reading a book as well. "You don't need that anymore either." I say, noticing he still has the ice pack. I go up and take it from him, and before I empty the ice down the drain, I notice something. "Did you put new ice in this? It should be half melted." I say.
        "No." He says slowly.
        "Huh." I say, dumping the rest of the ice down the sink. "Well, ok then. Now, what do you want for dinner. I'm going to make something easy, or order food, so take your pick." 
        "I do not care for your mortal food." Loki says in a monotone voice. I roll my eyes.
        "Pizza it is then." I mutter under my breath, grabbing a frozen one out of the freezer.