SAFETY PIN

Chapter-5: New Faces

                       "I've just got to do this on my own"

(AMARA'S POV):

"Hello! Who are you? Do you need anything?" I asked, me standing outside of his cage. I felt horrible; I, an 8-year-old, guarding the cage of this man who didn't acknowledge my existence.
Why was he in a cage? What was he doing here? Was he a bad person?  "Okay..umm. What's your favourite colour?" I  asked. No answer. "What's your name?".
His metallic arm shot out and grabbed my neck, pulling my head into the cage.

I woke up with a start. I was drenched in my sweat, and I was heaving.

The Winter Soldier.
Longing, rusted, furnace, daybreak, seventeen, benign, nine, homecoming, one, freight car.

The nightmare, sadly, was the furthest thing from what had happened. Most of the times.
It was 7:30 am on a Saturday, so thankfully I had gotten much more sleep than usual, including my 'heroic duties'. 

I got ready, and I went outside into the patio. Nobody was awake, so I took that opportunity to go to Mrs. T's and buy some cookies.
"Hello, Amara! Long time no see!" She laughed.
"It's been three days, Mrs T!" I laughed.
"Ted there has been complaining about his loss of cookies, I'll need to go and give him some!" She said, brightly.

"Okay, then. I'll leave you to it!" I said, giving the 5-dollar bill in my hand. "Have a nice day!" I shouted. 
I rode my cycle back home and changed into my uniform, which basically just consisted of black or blue pants, a sea green bulletproof vest, my gold mask, and a gold-and-blue cape made out of Atlantean gold. Of course, along with my sceptre. MJ and Sophie said that I looked like a 'goddess', but honestly, the uniform was just extremely comfortable(which I was a huge fan of).

I strode into the control room, to see if Fury had sent me any mission, or if I just had to do my usual rounds. 

"Why in the world is there Spiderman in the living room?!" I muttered as I saw a person sitting in a spandex wetsuit. "Ah, Varuna, this is Spider-ling. He's joined the Avengers. He's living with us for the next few weeks, so be nice. Give him the tour" Tony said, and he waltzed away picking up a cookie. 
"Loki, don't leave me alone," I muttered, grabbing his arm.
"Varuna, you'll be fine."
 He gave me a small smile, winked and teleported into his room. Everyone else walked out, including Steve.

"Spider-boy, my room is off-limits. The door's gonna be locked all the time. Don't you dare try and go in. Have they given you a room?" I asked him.
"No. Mr Stark just told me to sit here," he muttered gleefully.

He was looking around, excitedly, tilting his head.
 "Tony's not coming back. Okay, I'll give you the guest room  next to mine." I sighed. 

I walked him to it, levitating his luggage with a bed of water. He stared at it in awe but shrugged it off and kept on walking. It was weird, but also kind of cute.

Like a puppy.
 'He's a puppy pretending to be a wolf' I thought, smiling.

I was glad to know that underneath the mask with a tear stitched back up on one side, there was someone, with a soul, a spark, some sort of curiosity. It was rare to get that here, in this war-torn tower, full of death, destruction and orphans, whether they be children or adults. 

Loki's door was open, and he was reading. He gave the guy a weird smile and continued.
I could hear the beeping coming from his anklet, and a small part of my heart fell. He would never be free, always pulled down by a piece of metal on his foot.

"Okay, Arachnid dude, this is your room. Make yourself at home, stick up posters, and chill out." I instructed.
"FRIDAY will give you a proper tour in about an hour, so I'd say to change out of your uniform, and unpack," I instructed. 

He just stared at the room and muttered 'wow'. 
"You're gonna be the death of me," I muttered. 

"Well, on an emotional level, I hope not. On a logical one, absolutely, miss!"

As I sighed and walked away, I swore I could remember where I heard that voice before.