In The Shadows | Loki

YOU MISSED YOUR CHANCE

"Mr. Stark, a few Asgardians have landed on the roof." Jarvis pauses the movie in the common room, making everyone look up. Tony and I had insisted on making Steve watch the Star Wars movies, he only agreeing when I pulled the, "my family members tried to kill me two days ago and I'm upset about it" card. It turned out it also worked on Loki and Natasha. Once everyone else was there, Thor and Bruce ended up joining as well. 
        "Show them in, J." Tony replies, sitting up straight. Thor was already on his feet, and I look at Loki, concerned. Loki frowns, not moving from where he's sitting. I sit up, making him move his arm from where it was resting around my waist. It only takes a minute for the elevator to ding, and the doors to open. 
        "Friends!" Thor exclaims, and I look over to see Sif and Fandral emerging from the elevator. "What are you doing here?" 
        "Odin sent us." Sif remains all business. Fandral, on the other hand, grins when he sees me. 
        "Lady Winters!" I stand up. "It is good to see you in good health." I see Sif roll her eyes. "You look ten times as beautiful as the last time I saw you."
        "Really Fandral?" I ask, and he smirks.
        "You told me I was allowed to flirt with you when we were not on the run." He flashes me  white smile. "We aren't on the run anymore." I feel pain in the palms of my hands, and I know that Loki's hands are in tight fists, his nails digging in harshly. I shake my head.
        "You missed your chance, Fandral. You should've shown up earlier." He frowns. "I'm with someone, and they get jealous rather easily." 
        "I do not, Love." Loki scoffs, and I cross my arms, raising an eyebrow. I send a pointed look at his clenched fists, and he immediately relaxes.
        "Loki?" Fandral asks. "Really?"
        "What did you expect?" Sif asks, and I look up at her with some surprise. "They're bonded twin souls, and he's been infatuated with her since he came back from invading this realm." I look back to Loki.
        "Really?"
        "He denies it, but it really was obvious." Thor agrees. Loki turns to glare at his brother, and Thor grins. 
        "Thor, Odin is calling you back to Asgard." Sif quickly gets the back to the subject. "There's some disturbance in the nine realms. The Allfather wants you to get a handle on it before Chaos erupts." Thor frowns, nodding once and grabbing his hammer from the coffee table.
        "Let us go then." Sif gives one stiff nod, immediately falling into the position of being Thor's right hand woman. They both move towards the elevator, but Fandral stays still causing them both to stop. "Fandral."
        "Loki." Loki looks towards the blonde warrior, raising an eyebrow. "Queen Frigga asked me to deliver this to you." He pulls out a folded piece of paper, and Loki blinks slowly, taking a moment before he reaches forward and takes it. I watch curiously as he opens it, scanning it quickly as Fandral joins Thor and Sif.
        "Sif." Sif looks up. "You still owe me a fight. Don't think I forgot." I inform her, and she grins, remembering what she had mentioned before everything with Maleketh had happened. 
        "Of course. I do look forward to it." The elevator opens, and the three step inside, Thor pressing the button for the roof. The doors begin to close.
        "Thor." Loki speaks, looking up from the paper. Thor holds out a hand, stopping the elevator doors from sliding shut. "Tell our mother I said thank you." Thor hesitates, eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion. "She'll know what I mean." Thor nods once, agreeing to Loki's request. I knew that's wasn't what he was confused by. Loki's attention returns to the paper, and the elevator doors close. They don't close before I see Thor's small grin, and I can't help but be surprised. Loki had called Frigga their mother. For the first time in a while, he hadn't denied his relation to his family. 
        Tony waits until Jarvis informs him that Thor, Sif, and Fandral had left to restart the movie, and I retake my seat on the couch with Loki. He folds the paper, tucking it in his pocket. "So what was that?" I ask quietly, nodding towards the paper. Loki shakes his head.
        "It was nothing really." I raise an eyebrow, but let it go. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        "Clint's coming back this weekend?" Nat nods once, letting out a small huff of air as she hits the mat hard. She immediately rolls and jumps to her feet, throwing a hit towards my side. "I thought he was staying until the end of the month?" I block the hit, throwing out a kick to her right side. 
        "I told him about what happened with your family." I take a step back, my shoulders sagging as I relax and give her a look. 
        "He didn't need to worry about that." I reply, shaking my head. She shrugs.
        "Clint was worried. He's been worried since he left. Granted, he thought something was going to go wrong with Loki, but this gave him an excuse to come back too." Nat motions for me to come at her again, but I don't. Nat sighs, moving to the bench. "You understand why he's worried, right? He wanted to find a reason to come back and make sure you're okay."
        "I'm fine, and you know it." I snap, following her. "And you like Loki. Why are you giving Clint an excuse to come back and fight with Loki and me?" 
        "I'm giving you an excuse to stop the fighting." Nat retorts, taking a swig from her water bottle. "You know you want to be able to talk to Clint like you used to. You talked to him about this family stuff, not me, and you need someone to talk too." I give her a look, and she doesn't acknowledge it, taking another sip of water. 
        "I'm fine." 
        "You aren't. Are you even talking to Loki about this?" I hesitate, giving her the answer she wanted. 
        "He's been quiet since Thor left this morning, and I haven't exactly had time-"
        "You're making excuses."
        "You're one to give relationship advise." She raises an eyebrow before getting back to her feet. 
        "Get back on the mat so I can kick your ass."