Chapter 21

*Alex's POV*

We appeared in Fury's office and he raised an annoyed brow as he stared at the water puddle and muddy foot prints we brought with us. He let out a sigh as he sat down in his chair and motioned for us to sit down too. Loki and I had turned off our devices as soon as Fury informed up we were needed. 

"What's up?" I asked as I sat down and crossed my left leg over my right.

"I spoke to the President before you arrived. I showed him the recordings of your visit to Obreanua and briefed him on the events that took place. He said he wants to meet with you two and myself in an hour. That was 50 minutes ago. He's on the way now." Fury explained as he leaned back in his chair. My eyes went wide and I uncrossed my legs as I sat up and looked over at Loki.

"Why does he wish to speak to us?" Loki asked, raising a brow. I looked back at Fury, waiting for an answer but just as he opened his mouth his door swung open. The President strolled in and Loki tensed up, avoiding eye contact with the man. He walked over and Fury stood up, offering him his chair. The President sat down in Fury's chair and stared at Loki and I. The silence was sickening.

"I'm aware you were never implanted with the device Loki was." He finally said. I looked over at him and nodded.

"And I'm aware Mr. Fury released you from your cell the very next day." He added, looking over at Fury.

"Yes." I replied, pulling his attention back to me.

"Tony Stark, Mr. Fury and I had a very long chat yesterday. I assume you can understand the anger I felt knowing he had sent you two off world on a mission." The President said, leaning forward towards me. Loki sat up straight and his eyes locked on the man, like he was waiting for him to try and hurt me.

"But-" He said as he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I watched the footage. Your footage, Captain Marvel's footage and Loki's footage." He said, nodding to the monitors on Fury's desk.

"Loki." He said as he looked over at the God. Loki had relaxed a bit when the President moved away from me but he was still very attentive to his movements. Loki slightly tilted his head and his eyes every so slyly narrowed at the man.

"I know you and I have never gotten along well." He shrugged a little. 

"Never gotten along well??" I scoffed to myself as I clenched my jaw. I had to force my anger down inside to avoid causing any problems. I couldn't believe he was being so casual about the fact that he put Loki in so much pain over the years.

"I always assumed you behaved yourself on missions because you were with Thor. He kept you in your place." The President said. Loki clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes a bit more as he glared at the man. I couldn't believe how passive aggressive this asshole as being.

"But seeing you on Obreanua and how you saved Alex without even thinking about it and how you...stopped trying to kill the aliens there when Fury yelled at you..." He said as he leaned forward again and fished his hand around his front pocket.

"It seems you've learned to work with us and respect humans as one of your own." He said as he set the remote to Loki's device on the desk. Loki tensed up seeing it, like he was waiting for the pain. I inhaled a little through a small opening in my lips and then swallowed hard as the President pushed the remote towards Loki.

"I'm having your device removed." He announced.

"What??" I half laughed as I looked over at Loki with wide eyes. Loki's body relaxed and he slowly looked down as he furrowed his brows, like he couldn't believe it.

"When??" I asked, looking back at the President.

"Now." He nodded. Fury opened up the door to his office and Bruce and Peter walked in, both wearing their lab coats. They were accompanied by the same doctor who helped me after my accident.

"Hey Loki." Bruce smiled at the God. Loki looked back at the humans and a small, thankful smile appeared on his beautiful face. I quickly grabbed the remote from the desk, just in case the President changed his mind. I stood up and handed it to Loki. He looked up at me and stood up as he took it from my hand, his smile growing wider.

"You can destroy it after we take it out." Bruce happily offered as he motioned for Loki to follow him. 

"Alex, stay here please." The President suddenly said. We all looked back at him and I nodded. I men and doctor left the room and I sat back down in my chair. Fury sat in Loki's chair and I felt the tension suddenly fill the air.

"You messed up on the mission." The President harshly said. Fury furrowed his brows and shook his head as he leaned forward, putting his arms on his legs.

"She did nothing wrong. And it isn't your call if she messed up or not." He harshly replied.

"She almost got herself impregnated by some goddamn aliens! She was careless! What if her carelessness caused someone to get killed!?" He shouted at Fury. Fury scoffed and leaned back in his chair as he shook his head.

"It was her first off world mission. She did everything by the book. The aliens on Obreanua tricked her. They knew she wasn't able to use her powers and kidnapped her." Fury argued. I sat there like a child listening to their parents fighting over who gets custody, except, only one parent wanted them. My heart was in my stomach and my eyes down on the floor.

"She should have known the colors of that planet caused changes in feelings. She should have known not to reveal to someone that she couldn't use her powers. She should have known not to go off without another Avenger!" The President screamed as he slammed his fist on the desk.

"Cap didn't know!" Fury suddenly yelled.

"Excuse me?" The President scoffed. I looked up from the floor and over at Fury, who had the look of murder in his eye.

"Captain Marvel didn't know about the colors either. Did you yell at her?" He asked, raising his brow. I looked over at the President and he clenched his jaw as he leaned back in Fury's chair.

"That is not the point." His voice was softer now but still full of anger.

"Then what is the point, Mr. President? Because all I'm hearing is you tryin' find excuses to yell at the poor kid. Tryin' to scare her into submission. She and the rest of the Avengers are mine. Not yours. You don't get to come in here and scream at my members and make them feel guilty for something that wasn't there fault!" He yelled.

"Fury-"

"Alex fell victim to some lying aliens. Most of my Avengers have. Never seen you so upset with them." Fury half laughed as he stood up.

"We're done here." He added as he fixed his trench coat and looked over at me.

"Go home and get some rest." His voice was softer and more caring than a few moments ago and that brought me comfort. I nodded and quickly got up and left his office, closing the door behind me. I exhaled hard as I walked own the hall and laughed a little, replaying Fury standing up for me in my head. 

I made my way into the lab where Loki was. He was on his stomach and his hair laid off of his neck and over his had. Bruce and Peter stood on the left of him while the doctor stood on his right, scalpel in hand. She had blood on her and I knew they were still doing surgery. Peter looked over at me and I mouthed "how's it going?". He hit me with a smile and thumbs up and I smiled back.

"I'm off to Tony's." I mouthed as I pointed downwards. He nodded and put his attention back on Loki and the doctor. I fell through the ship and flew towards Tony's building. I landed on the balcony and walked in to an empty living room.

"Hello?" I called out. The elevator doors opened up and Happy and a younger woman walked into the room. His eyes fell on me and they went wide as he rushed over and threw his arms around me.

"Oh, kid, thank god you're okay!" He said, squeezing me. I laughed a little and patted his back before he pulled away. The woman smiled at us but stayed quiet as Happy examined me.

"You are okay, right??" He asked, his eyes returning to mine.

"Of course." I nodded and smiled.

"Tony told us what happened to you on that planet. Pepper almost had a heart attack." He chuckled as he shook his head.

"Where are they?" I asked as I looked around the empty living room once again.

"Pepper is in a meeting and Tony is out with War Machine." He shrugged. I looked back at the woman and Happy's eyes went wide as he looked back at her, like he just remembered she was there.

"Right!" He awkwardly said as he looked back over at me.

"This is Rebecca, she's Tony's new assistant." He said, clearing his throat. I smiled at the woman and began extending my hand out to her but was interrupted by a very familiar voice.

"T.J??"

We all looked to the balcony and my polite smile turned to one of a familiar happiness as I quickly walked over to Tony. His Nanos were disappearing from his body and he laughed as he threw his arms around me.

"When did you get back??" He asked as he pulled away and looked at me.

"A little bit ago. But I had a meeting with Fury and the President." I rolled my eyes and shook my head a little as I crossed my arms.

"How'd it go? He tell you the good news??" He asked, excitement in his eyes.

"Yeah! They're removing his device now." I happily replied.

"That was all me, ya know. Fury will try and say it was him that pursued the old fart, but it was all me." Tony informed me as he smirked and shrugged. 

"I'll be sure to tell Loki that." I laughed.

"But thank you." I added. Tony stared at me for a moment, softly smiling at me. He suddenly pulled me into another hug and I laughed as I hugged him back.

"She's here!" Pepper yelled out. I tried to pull away from Tony but he held me close, so I twisted my neck the best I could and looked back at the excited woman. She pushed past Happy and threw her arms around me from behind. These two gave me more love than my own family did and they've known me for less than a month. It was refreshing, comforting, and emotionally beautiful to feel such love from them.

"Alright, big dinner tonight. Everyone's invited!" Pepper announced as she pulled away. Tony let me go too and I shook my head at Pepper's idea.

"No need for th-"

"Don't you dare argue with me on this. After what you went through on that dumb planet, you need a night to celebrate." She insisted and I didn't feel like arguing with her on it.

"Alright, fiinnee." I rolled my eyes and smiled at her.

"Hap, let's go shopping." She said as she turned and looked at the man. He nodded at her order and they walked over to the elevator.

"I'll go spread the word. I gotta few things to do up on the Hellicarrier anyway. Be back later." Tony nodded as his Nanos formed his suit on his body again.

"Sir?" Rebecca asked. We looked at her as Pepper and Happy got on the elevator and left the living room.

"What, um, what am I supposed to do now?" She seemed as nervous as I was when I first got this job.

"Just, uh, I dunno, take the day off. Be here for dinner though. 8 pm." He replied as his mask covered his face. She nodded and Tony flew off of the balcony, leaving his assistant and I alone.

"It must be so nice. Having parents like that. They've done nothing but talk about you since I started yesterday. It's nice to finally meet you." Rebecca giggled. I looked back at the woman and watched as she tucked her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear and smile at me.

"Oh!" I realized she thought Tony and Pepper were my parents.

"No, they aren't my parents." I laughed a little. Her eyes went wide and she tensed up as she stared at me. I could tell she was embarrassed for saying that.

"O-oh. I-I'm sorry. I just though...because Mr. Stark calls you Tony Junior.." She awkwardly laughed.

"Yeeaahh." I laughed and shook my head as I smiled.

"That's just a nickname he gave me. My name is Alex." I offered her my hand again and she smiled as she shook it. I could tell she felt a little less embarrassed now.

"It's nice to meet the person who took my job. I was wondering how long it would take him to replace me." I joked. Her eyes went wide again and I realized she as even more nervous than I was. If that's even possible.

"Kidding." I quickly added. She relaxed a little and laughed as she let my hand go.

"Well, not really. You did take my job." I shrugged.

"But that's only because I became an Avenger." I winked.

"H-How did you become an Avenger?" She asked me. I knew if I told her the whole truth she would probably quite right then and there. So, I lied, kinda.

"I was in an explosion that infused my DNA with all the elements known to mankind." I shrugged. 

"Oh my gosh, where did this happen??" She asked with wide eyes.

"Um, that's classified." I took a page from Fury's book. Rebecca nodded and didn't ask any more questions. Loki suddenly appeared next to me and Rebecca jumped and let out a small scream as she grabbed her chest.

"Hello." Loki nodded at Rebecca.

"Y-You-" She recognized him and was clearly scared of him.

"He's Loki, yes. But no worries. He's an Avenger too. Tony can explain it later." I quickly said before she started screaming or something. She nodded at my words and I took Loki's hand in my own.

"I'll see you at dinner." I smiled at Rebecca and then pulled Loki down through the floor with me. I let his hand go and motioned for him to turn around. He smiled and spun around and I gently moved his hair away from the base of his neck. I admired the stitches and smiled as I dropped his hair.

"You're free!" I laughed as he turned back around. 

"How do you feel?" I asked as he took a step closer to me. My heart began to race in my chest as Loki slowly placed his hand on my cheek.

"Amazing." He whispered. He crashed his lips into mine as he put his hand on the crook of my lower back and pulled me close to him. I smiled and threw my arms around his neck, careful to place them just below his incision. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and my heart exploded as we explored one another. He removed his hand from my face and wrapped his arms around me as he took a step forward, causing me to step back. He did this a few times and my back suddenly hit something hard. He moved his hand from me and pushed his bedroom door open, not breaking contact with my lips. 

He slammed the door behind him and finally pulled away from me, but kept his arms around me. I stared up into his beautiful green eyes and smiled a little as he stared back into mine. I wasn't sure if this was love, I've never felt romantic feelings like this for someone before. It was new and exciting. I found it a little worrying that he didn't want to talk about our feelings, but in this moment I didn't care. I craved him and all I wanted to do was throw caution to the wind and give in to these feelings. 

"Alex." Loki whispered as he gently ran his thumb over my bottom lip. He slowly ran it down my cheek and to my chin. He bent his pointer finger and held my chin between his finger and thumb as he brought my lips back to his. He kissed me softly this time, more passion and love behind it.

"Do you want this?" He asked, pulling slightly away.

"More than anything."

*A Few Months Later*

I walked into Tony's kitchen and smiled at Pepper, who was making us lunch. She smiled back and returned her attention to the cutting board where she was chopping up lettuce.

"Where's your lover boy?" She teased as she glanced over at me. I couldn't hide the giant smile on my face as Loki crossed my mind. We started spending more time together and my feelings for him were growing. Pepper caught us kissing a week ago and hasn't stopped bothering me about it since. I didn't mind though, i liked having someone to talk to about all of this. I wasn't sure where it was going but everything felt so right when I was with Loki.

"With Thor in Asgard. Odin wanted to see them about something." I shrugged as I leaned over the counter and grabbed a slice of cucumber from the giant bowl Pepper had sitting out. She swatted my hand away but I quickly grabbed two more slices before moving. She chuckled at me and tossed the chopped up lettuce in the bowl before grabbing a large green pepper next to her.

The elevator doors opened and Rebecca walked in with a smile on her face. I liked Rebecca, she was shy but fun to have around. She didn't know a whole lot about the Avengers and it felt like Tony definitely favored me over her when talking assistant wise. He let me in on a lot more secrets really early on but not her. She doesn't even know that Peter is Spiderman and all she really knows about Loki is that he wasn't really behind the attacks on New York.

"Hey." I smiled at the girl before putting one cucumber slice in my mouth.

"Heeeyy." She sang out as she sweetly smiled at me.

"Alright, spill it." I smiled as I chewed.

"Spill what??" She asked, her eyelashes fluttering as she giggled.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" I asked her, putting the second cucumber slice in my mouth.

"I decided that today's the day that I ask Loki out!" She happily said. I inhaled hard and the barely chewed cucumber slice flew into the back of my throat, causing my to choke. I put my hand over my mouth as I coughed and Pepper's eyes went wide as she looked over at me. Not because I was choking, but because of what Rebecca said.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay??" Rebecca asked as she rushed over to me. I held my gloved finger up and coughed hard one more time before swallowing the cucumber and nodding. I cleared my throat and and exhaled through my mouth as I dropped my hand and furrowed my brows at her.

"You're gonna do what??" I asked. She shrugged a little as she walked away from me around the counter, facing the living room.

"I dunno." She said as she turned back around to face Pepper and I.

"I've been thinking about it a lot. I know he's done some pretty bad things but Tony said that it wasn't really him. I see him around here and he's just so cute and interesting." She said with a smile.

"So I figure, why not? You only live once." She giggled.

"I mean, that's true yeah bu-" Before I could finish my argument a white light flashed in the living room behind her and I turned my head to avoid being blinded by it. The light faded and Loki put his arms behind his back as he smiled at me. Rebecca quickly flattened her straight hair down and tensed up as she watched the God.

"Back already?" I asked him as I leaned back against the counter. Pepper resume her chopping but I caught her glimpsing up at me a few times.

"The meeting is over." He nodded.

"Join me in the shower." Loki's voice said in my head. I felt my face heat up with a blush and awkwardly crossed my arms over my chest as I looked down, trying to hide the smile.

"Um, Loki, can I talk to you about something?" Rebecca suddenly said. My heart sank as I looked over at her small smile. I hated that this made me so angry and upset, but it did. Loki looked over at her and raised a curious brow as his eyes laded on her. He tore his eyes from her and looked back at me, his slightly tense posture relaxing.

"No. I have reading to do." He quickly replied before vanishing from sight.

"Oh." Rebecca sighed.

"Don't take it personally, Becca, he's just like that." I assured her as I uncrossed my arms. I felt bad for her because she clearly liked him a lot, but that also worried me because not only was she absolutely beautiful, she was interesting, funny, smart, hardworking, and just a joy to be around. Loki were in a friends with benefits type situation except we both had feelings for one another. We just haven't done anything about them. 

"Alex." She asked as she looked over at me.

"Yeah?" I asked as I looked back over at her.

"You're Loki's partner and all that and you spend all of your time with him." She laughed as she cupped her hands together in front of her.

"So, is he, like, single? Like, I've never seen him with anyone but you and Thor basically and I just wanna make sure I'm not overstepping my boundaries." She explained as she smiled sweetly at me. I was such a push over.

"I dunno, Becca, he doesn't really talk about his romantic side of life." I shrugged. What was I supposed to tell her? "Yeah he's single but I fuck him daily and he acts like my boyfriend in private but never in public."???

"Well, I'm gonna take that as yes, Becca, he is single! Meaning I'm gonna ask him out." She giggled. Just as those words left her lips Tony walked in from the balcony, his suit leaving his body. He walked over to us and nodded a hello to Rebecca before ruffling my hair. I laughed and pushed him away from me as he laughed and then he kissed Pepper on the cheek.

"So, Gossip Girls, who's single and who are we asking out?" He asked as he reached his hand into the salad bowl. Pepper swatted him away but he managed to steal a few cucumber slices before she did. He handed me one and winked before tossing the other one in his mouth.

"Loki!" Rebecca happily replied. Tony immediately began choking on his cucumber and I nodded as I took a bite of mine. He pounded his fist against his chest a few times and then shook his head as he looked back over at Rebecca.

"Jesus??" He asked her with his brows furrowed.

"Jesus?" She asked as she raised her brow.

"She wasn't here for that joke." I chimed in before putting the rest of the cucumber in my mouth.

"But she means Loki Loki, right??" He asked cleared his throat.

"Yeah!" Rebecca giggled again.

"I, uh, I don't think he's single." Tony shrugged as he reached over and stole a few pepper slices from the bowl.

"Oh. Why do you say that?" Rebecca asked him. He handed me one of the slices and chomped down on his own as he shrugged and shook his head.

"I dunno, I heard him talking to Thor the other day, something about some girl he really likes or whatever, I dunno." Tony replied.

"I am waiting for you." Loki's low and tense voice echoed in my thoughts and I felt my heart skip a beat as I stood straight up, adjusting my posture.

"Doesn't matter anyway, I have a rule about employees dating Avengers." Tony shrugged.

"Oh?" Rebecca asked as she tilted her head to the side a little. I joined her in the confusion since I never heard this rule either.

"Yeah." Tony nodded.

"And what's the rule?" She asked him.

"They can't." He smiled.

"Really?" Her voice was soft and small and I felt bad for her but I was secretly glad Tony had that rule.

"Yep. So even if he is single, you can't date Loki." Tony shrugged as he ate another pepper stick.

"Where is he, by the way?" Tony asked as he looked around the room.

"Thor said he was down here." He added.

"Reading."

"In the shower." 

Rebecca and I both replied at the same time. Rebecca looked over at me and raised a suspicious brow as she crossed her arms.

"He said he had some reading to do." She said. I nodded and looked down at the pepper stick in my hand as I twirled it.

"Yeah, no, he did say that." I awkwardly laughed as I looked back over at her.

"But, uh, he popped into my head-" I said as I tapped the side of my head with the stick.

"-to, ya know, complain that I used all of the hot water earlier during my shower. He said he wanted to have a shower before reading." I shrugged as I took a bite of the stick.

"He can talk to you through your mind??" She asked, her eyes wide with amazement.

"Yeah. It isn't all that great, honestly. He likes to chime in randomly to complain about things and people." I shrugged again.

"Alleeexxx." Loki's voice sang out in my head.

"But I gotta get going." I said as I put the rest of the small pepper stick in my mouth and shrugged a little.

"Me too. I only stopped by here for, well, ya know." Rebecca awkwardly laughed as she shuffled to the elevator. She pressed the down button and waved to us as the doors opened. We waved back and the doors closed on her and I exhaled as I sank into the stool by the bar.

"You're welcome." Tony winked at me before turning and walking over to the steps that lead down to his lab. I shoot Pepper a glare and she giggled as she slid the chopped pepper into the bowl. I knew she told Tony about Loki and I and it seems he lied to his assistant to stop her from ruining it for me. I felt bad but happy at the same time.

I phased through the floor and down to my apartment. I could hear the water running in the bathroom and walked through the walls to get there. I walked in and spotted Loki's uniform on the ground as the water in the shower splashed to the bottom of the shower floor. He was already in. I quickly undressed and phased myself through the shower curtain and into the shower with Loki.

"Finally." He said as he smiled down at me, his wet hair dripping water down his face. I leaned up and kissed him as he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me.

"What took so long?" He asked as he took a step back so we were both under the shower head.

"Rebecca was talking to us about asking you out." I chuckled as I pulled away and pushed my wet hair back on my head.

"Who?" He asked, raising a brow.

"Rebecca? Tony's assistant? She was with me and Pepper upstairs?" I half laughed as I raised a brow.

"Ah, the human." He nodded.

"I'm human. Pepper's human." I pointed out as I reached up and swept his hair back on his head.

"Yes, but you two are a different type of human. You are humans I can stand." He said as he rolled his eyes.

"What's so wrong with Rebecca??" I asked as I dropped my hands to his shoulders. Loki's eyes narrowed and a small smirk played on his lips as he stared into my eyes.

"You are jealous of her." He laughed a little.

"No." I quickly and sternly replied.

"Hearing her talk about me made you angry." His voice getting low as he leaned down towards me. My heart skipped a beat in my chest and I intertwined my fingers behind his neck.

"I mean, she is beautiful, smart, funny-"

"But she is not you, Alex. There is no other being in this universe I would rather be with." Loki whispered before pushing his lips to mine. I melted into him as he snaked his hands up my thighs and rested them on my lower back.

It felt good knowing Loki wasn't interested in other women. I truly felt like Loki and I could go far with our relationship.

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