Giftless

Chapter 4

When you and Tony returned to the tower, Tony took Loki's things to Fury. You carried your new books upstairs and gathered the homework you still had to finish before class the next day. Tony had reports to write and other boring adult things to do that afternoon, so you were left to your own devices, namely, doing your homework. So you carried all of your homework and laptop and headed back downstairs. You didn't want to be alone, and you had found out that if you worked on your homework in the common room, you could usually find someone to help you if you got stuck on something. That was the great thing about living with such a large extended family.

When you made it to the common room, you noticed that Loki was gone. You couldn't help being a bit disappointed that he wasn't there, but you knew that you couldn't expect him to be here all of the time. That was your job. Besides, they'd probably be sending him on patrols soon and making him a real member of the team.

So you sat and worked on your homework for the afternoon. Tony came up to help you with your math homework and Bruce came up to help you with science. The older Avengers tried to make time, especially on Sunday afternoon to come help the teens with their homework. So you weren't the only one benefiting from their visit. That didn't mean you didn't thank them for their help as always. They didn't need to take time out of their Sunday afternoon to help you.

You stayed up way later than you should have, engrossed in your new book, sitting in your usual spot on the couch when your homework was done. You were secretly, ok, maybe not so secretly, hoping that Loki would return, but he never did. You hoped that he was he was ok, and that people were giving him a chance, though you highly doubted that.

You finally relented and went to bed once it got too late, your books and homework cradled in your arms. When you got to your suite, you saw two of the books you had lent Loki waiting outside the door for you, sitting on a decorative knick knack table placed beside your door. You picked up up the books and added them to the stack already in your arms.

When you did, you saw a note written in an elegant careful script. There were only two words printed:

<Thank you>

You smiled warmly at the note and ducked into your suite. You carefully reshelved your books, packed your homework and your bag for the next day, and took the note with you into your bedroom. You set the note on your nightstand and scribbled out a reply. All that was on it was your phone number. You made your way back out of your suite on tiptoes so as to not disturb your neighbor and slipped your note under Loki's door before darting back to your own room to get some sleep.

You didn't get much sleep, though you tried. You were plagued as usual with nightmares of the fire. You didn't tell anyone that you still had nightmares. They didn't need to know. It would just make Tony even more anxious and worried about you if he knew.

Once you finally freed yourself from the nightmares, you went to your sitting room and read until it was time to get ready for school. There was no way you were going to attempt to sleep again after nightmares of the fire. You left the door to the hallway open, an unspoken invitation for guests and company.

No one came.

You weren't surprised, it was stupidly early

So you waited until it was time to get ready for school and closed the door to the hallway again so you could dress in your stupid school uniform. You knew that you shouldn't hate it. You went to the most elite private school around, thanks to your buttload of money and Tony's insistence. That, of course, meant uniforms.

You grabbed your bag when you were dressed and headed downstairs. Tony was waiting to drive you to school. The school was within walking distance, but he always insisted on driving you, or walking with you if it was nice, or having one of the other supers escort you. You understood the reason: the world knew you were his niece, and so did the villains. Tony wouldn't take any chances with your safety.