𝔸𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕤 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦

Chapter 6

Tw: Implied injury, strong language

Natasha slid into her seat next to Clint, who barely looked at her as she pulled out her lunch things, dumping her bag on the grass.

She poked his shoulder suspiciously, startling the sandy blond. "Huh- oh, Nat," he observed, dropping his shoulders into a more relaxed position as Nat squeezed them gently.

"What's up Katniss? You look horrible," Nat sniggered, bringing a hand up to her mouth as Pietro made finger guns at her and Clint groaned indignantly.

Crossing her arms, Nat stared expectantly at him. "So what happened to get you like this?"

"I-ah it's not my place to explain," Clint said uncomfortably, not meeting Natasha's eyes. Pietro raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't interject like Clint thought he would.

Nat, who noticed the fleeting glance Clint shot Pietro, pursed her lips. "Is it about someone in our group?"

Clint rolled his eyes. "Isn't it always?"

She opened her mouth to joke back at him, but before she could speak, a familiar voice greeted them both, and the rest of her words evaporated in her mouth.

"Loki! I thought you were still in the infirmary," Nat yelped, jumping to her feet.

"They discharged me a period ago," Loki revealed airily, waving a hand. "I just wasn't in the mood for class."

"But you're okay, right?" Nat worried, biting her fingernails.

Loki tilted his head back, baring his throat. The bruises had faded to the point of which they were tiny pinpricks on Loki's flawless pale skin. "Like magic."

Examining Loki critically, Nat noticed that he looked healthier; there was colour in his cheeks and the mischievous sparkle in his eyes was back. She made a face at him. "Fine, if you say so."

"Glad to have you back, Lokes," Clint patted him on the back, a slight smile on his face.

"Loki?" A familiar voice drawled, drawing the attention of the whole group. Wanda, Stephen, Bruce, Thor, Sam and Steve were approaching them, Thor glaring exasperatedly around Steve's shoulder at Loki.

Gulping, Loki ducked behind Pietro, his form wavering and glitching like a hologram. His hair lightened to brown, shortening slightly, the green eyes turned into grey blue, and his left arm took on a metallic tint, a red star imprinted on the bicep.

One moment Loki was standing in between Nat and Clint, and the next, Bucky was stumbling out from behind Pietro, almost tripping and falling over his feet. "Surprise?"

Thor ran a hand through his blond hair exasperatedly, while Sam and Wanda gaped open mouthed at Loki.

"I didn't know you could do that," Wanda breathed, eyes raking over Bucky's figure; an exact replica of the actual person. Loki shifted restlessly as Wanda examined him, his eyes watching Thor carefully.

His attention was diverted by two dark haired figures running up to them, one of them quite a bit shorter than the other. "Oh- Thor!" Tony exclaimed, hands gesturing madly. "Is Loki out yet? I heard Obadiah got a faceful of red paint- "

Clint cleared his throat. "Actually, that was us," he indicated himself and Pietro, who flushed under the disbelieving look his sister sent him.

Tony's gaze slid over Clint's smug grin at Natasha, who slapped the back of his head in return, and onto Bucky, whose lips bent into a smirk when he realised Tony was looking at him.

Doing a double take, Tony whipped his head around to look at Bucky, who was standing just behind him, looking equally confused. "Who the fuck- " he began, eyes widening comically.