The Last Shifter (a Loki romance)

Chapter 108

The next morning, I woke up when the sun's rays fell on my closed eyes. I got up right away, already feeling more well rested than since before I came here. I was also pleasantly sore from my matches with Steve yesterday.

"Jarvis, who else is awake?"

"Only you. Would you like me to wake someone?"

"No, thanks though." I got dressed and went to the kitchen, when they woke, the others would no doubt have little hangovers. So, the least I could do was make them breakfast. I threw some bacon and eggs in pans and whipped up some pancake batter. Right as I was about to start pouring, the elevator dingged.

"Morning, Steve."

"I'm not Steve." It was Natasha, "Steve goes right to the gym every morning. He told me you were quite the sparring partner."

"I suppose you could say that."

"Would you be interested in sparring with me later? I could use a new partner."

"That sounds good!"

"And for the record, Tony likes chocolate chips in his pancakes and Thor loves poptarts."

"Good to know."

When I finished making breakfast, Natasha was sitting on the sofa in the next area watching the morning news.

"Jarvis," I began as I was getting ready to serve, "Wake the others please and inform them that breakfast is ready."

"Arista, come here a moment." I turned off the burners and went over to the TV while Natasha turned up the volume.

"...candidate for the Nobel Prize is astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster for her theory of Einstein Rosen Bridges and gateways to other dimensions. Dr. Foster has yet to make a comment about her opinion on her chances nor on her alleged friendship with Arista McIntosh, the infamous shapeshifter...." In the footage they had shown, Jane had looked so happy and I was so proud of her for even getting the nomination. Winning the Nobel Prize was something every scientist fantasized about, but for her it could very well become a reality.

"The nominees were announced a few days ago. I thought you should know, I know you two are close."

"We are. Thank you."

"I've got her number in my phone, if you want you can give her a call and congratulate her yourself."

"That's safe for me to do, right? No government spies are going to hear the conversation?"

"I'm one of the best spies in the world. I have my phone programmed to shut out those tech nerds."

"Thank you." The elevator dinged.

"Do I smell pancakes?" Tony and Clint stumbled over to the counter, practically leaving trails of drool on the floor. Dr. Banner followed them cautiously, then proceeded to prepare a hangover 'instant cure'. Steve came next, wearing a tight gray shirt with a towel slung over his shoulder, followed by Thor, who was looking far too pleased with himself.

"Sister! I thank you for the wondrous gift of poptarts!" His eyes lit up when he spotted not one, but two waiting for him. Unlike the others, Steve came over to me before heading to the island.

"I really appreciate you doing this Peg. You already look a lot better than you did a couple days ago."

"I feel a lot better, Steve. I really owe you one for that wake up call." I gave him a side-hug.

"Anytime, Peggy, anytime. I'm here."

For me, packing for the mission was easy, I only had to bring the essentials. Natasha was nice enough to lend me her spare catsuit, given that I didn't really have anything low-key to wear. I also picked out a pair of handguns from the shooting range, but I didn't want to have to use them. I wanted to rely most on my sword and daggers. I hadn't fought with them in New York, so we were all kind of assuming that I'd be safe using them.