Giftless

Chapter 2

You nodded and did your best to convince Tony that you'd be careful. That much you could honestly tell him. You would be careful. That didn't mean you would stay away from the new guy, from Loki. As any proper niece, you weren't going to listen to Tony. He meant well, but he didn't understand people. He understood robots and electronics so much better than people, but he tried. For you anyway, he tried. "Stay up here tonight?" Tony asked you. You knew he wasn't really asking. It was a demand in order to keep you away from Loki. You rolled your eyes, but nodded.

"Fine," you grumbled, but it really didn't matter, since you were just going to read until bed regardless. That's what you did, which is why 90% of the decorations in your rooms were bookshelves, completely crammed and overflowing with books.

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you tomorrow," he promised. He kissed the top of your head before he left. He really tried to be affectionate, though it was hard work for him. But you were all the family the other had, so you tried to understand each other. "I have to go make sure they get him settled in without trouble," he said apologetically. You nodded again, feeling the spark of loneliness when he left, but he had a job to do. It still hurt to be so alone most of the time. But you wouldn't tell anyone that.

You sat and read for a few more hours, until you heard a commotion out in the hallway. You went to the door and cracked the door open to see what was going on, not even caring that you were standing in the doorway in your pajamas. You trusted everyone here, they were all family, besides, it was winter and your pajamas were plaid full-length pants and a long sleeve shirt. "He's not staying here!" you heard Tony roar. You stepped further out of your room to see what was going on. Tony and Director Fury were yelling at each other across the hall. There was a figure in the doorway behind them and you recognized the figure as Loki.

"This is the best place for him," Fury replied calmly.

"He can't stay in the suite across the hall from my niece!" Tony roared in reply, his fists curled. You knew him well enough to know he was moments away from summoning his armor.

"We need him up here until we can put him on active duty. It will keep him from leaving without someone noticing. Your niece is up here since she's safest away from the main entrance to compound. This is my decision," Fury replied. His voice remained calm and rational. Tony may own the building, but Fury technically controlled everything that happened within its walls.

"We can't trust him," Tony was trying to be rational, but he was failing. You saw it and you knew that Director Fury saw it too.

"His powers are contained. He's in chains. He's safe and not going to hurt anyone. You're out of line soldier," Fury replied.

Tony growled. "I'm not a soldier!" You could see him give up, though. He didn't have a choice but to accept Fury's decision. He would normally fight, but Fury was already doing him a favor letting you live here. You slipped back into your room before either of them noticed you were standing there. That would only cause trouble, but before you ducked into the room, you looked at Loki and saw him watching you. Hopefully, he would keep his mouth shut that you'd been watching.

Tony and Fury left a few minutes later after arguing some more over logistics. You grabbed a book off of one of your many shelves and went across the hall when they were gone. You took a moment to steel your nerves before you knocked on the door. Loki opened it a minute later, looking wary. His expression switched to shock for a moment before his perfectly calm expression was back in place. You took a moment to appreciate his form up close. He was thin, but muscular with raven hair and green eyes. He was also older than you. He looked twentyish, while you were almost eighteen. He still had the manacles on his wrists with the long chain between them, but was now wearing black pajama bottoms and a green t-shirt. "Can I help you?" he asked, sounding wary. You knew Tony had warned him to stay away from you, so of course he was wary of you showing up.

"I'm Kat, Y/N Stark, but I go by Kat. I live just across the hall," you waved to your open door. "I know these rooms are pretty bare when you first move in. I thought you'd like something to read..." you held out the book to him, offering friendship. You knew it was more than he'd get from anyone else, which pained you.

"Your uncle instructed me to stay away from you. He was quite insistent," was his reply in a very pleasant British accent. You grinned, this you could handle.

"He gave me the same instructions in regards to you, but he's my uncle, so I'm contractually obligated to ignore such orders," you told him with a smile. "And you can't stay away from me when I come to bother you," you reminded him quite logically. That earned you a chuckle from him.

"It seems I might have a kindred spirit here after all," he replied warmly. He took the book from you gently. He was taking extra care not to touch your skin, or hit you accidentally with the chains. "Thank you for the loan, Lady Stark,"

"You're welcome. I have plenty, and I'm always willing to share," you smiled at him again. It would take time to gain his trust, and more than just the lending of a book, but you'd earned it. He deserved to have a friend, if he really had switched sides. You heard the clock chime midnight. "It's getting late. I should get some sleep. I can't run on no sleep like all of you supers seem able to," you teased.

"Supers?" he asked, tilting his head at the foreign word.

"Sorry, it's a slang term for the superheroes, for those with powers," you explained to him. You forgot that if he came from another world and while his grasp of English was impeccable, he might not know things like slang.

"And you are not one of them?"

You shook your head. "No, I'm just a normal human,"

"Then why do you live among these...supers?" he didn't seem to care much for the slang word.

"My uncle is Iron Man. He's the only family I have left," you told him. It was common knowledge anyway, so it didn't hurt to share. "The world knows his secret identity, so they know who I am. It's safer for me to live among the supers than to live among the humans. Besides, it was here, or foster care, and I'd rather stay with my family." He took that in and you saw him store the words away to parse over later. He seemed to be memorizing the interaction to evaluate the whole thing later.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady Kat," he finally said. You couldn't be disappointed he didn't want to talk more. You were the one who reminded him that you needed sleep. You hadn't wanted to overstay your welcome on your first interaction anyway.

"It was nice to meet you too," you replied and headed back to your own rooms. He watched you until you were safely inside with the door closed and locked behind you. It was only then that you heard his door close across the hall. You didn't know what Tony was talking about him being dangerous. He seemed nice enough.