Prompt from @Wolfie_ROOD (ao3 user): If Loki's showing himself to other people at this point, which I'd hope he is lmao, he'd probably join in on the ass-whooping, as well, either to lowkey impress the reader or just to prove that he is also a badass compared to the newbies hehe. And maybe he and the reader get into a pretty heated sparring match afterward just to see who's the strongest in the room! I wouldn't even know who would win that lmao Loki has the advantage in the magical department, but I'm pretty sure the reader would have more expertise in physical fighting! (part two)

A/N: I'm not exaggerating when I say I have been thinking about this prompt all day. Finally writing it was so satisfying! I have officially almost run out of prompts so please send more in, I really want to keep writing<3 I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

...

Loki's POV

As Loki follows you down the corridor, he can practically see the annoyance radiating from you.

This only consolidates his determination to finish what he's started, even if he's hating every moment of it.

Over the past weeks he has allowed himself to get far too close to you. He cares for you. This would be only slightly annoying, if only you hadn't started caring for him in return.

Loki is aware that his assumption of your feelings towards him is less than modest, but he's sure you feel the same way. He's extremely good at reading people, even those who mask their feelings particularly well.

You are one of these people.

He couldn't care less about Amber. He finds her quite infuriating, but he has to push you away. This seemed like the perfect way to do it. And it's working... he thinks. He knows it's wrong, but you can't be allowed to get attached to him.

You have no idea who he really is.

What he really is. And you mustn't find out.

When you reach the rooms, Amber unlocks the door to one and disappears inside, leaving the door open. Loki clenches his jaw as you turn to look at him. Waiting.

He doesn't want to face the alternative, but he simply can't stay in a room overnight with Amber. So he turns to look at you.

You raise an eyebrow at him appraisingly before turning to unlock the door to the other room. Loki doesn't like how the simple movement of one of your eyebrows makes him feel. Or does he?

"Can I..?" he asks you.

"Can you..?" you repeat as the door clicks open, turning back to look at him. You're not making this easy at all.

"Can I share a room with you. Please." he says slowly. A glimmer of satisfaction flickers behind your eyes, and Loki almost smiles.

"Yes." you say shortly, before turning and disappearing inside the room. He follows.

This isn't going to be easy at all.

Your POV

Despite Loki's apparent desire not to share a room with Amber, their flirting doesn't cease as you make your way back downstairs and over to the training facilities where the hopeful recruits are waiting for you.

Any satisfaction you had felt when Loki asked if he could share a room with you has disappeared entirely in the short journey across the grounds.

Thankfully the flirting has to stop once you enter the facilities, as the recruits were midway through a training session. It's time to get your work head on; you need to be on the look-out for potential candidates.

The training instructor pairs the twenty or so recruits up and gives them some instructions before making her way over to you.

"Hi, I'm Polly. You must be Y/N?" she says as she approaches you, and the recruits begin to practice a move they have obviously just been taught on each other behind her.

"Yes, hi." you reply, shaking her hand before she moves on to Amber and Loki.

"Now, we've got some real talent here this weekend. I won't tell you who I've got my eye on yet, just have a watch, take some time with them and we can discuss your thoughts at the end, okay?" Polly says to you and Amber, largely ignoring Loki.

"Sounds good." you smile, before turning your attention to the recruits.

It quickly comes to your attention that most of, if not all, of the recruits are older than you. You try not to let it put you off. You're used to working with people much older than you.

Some of the recruits stop to look at you as you begin making your way around the edge of the room they're training in.

"What's with the kid?" one guy asks his partner, gesturing towards you. When he realises that you've heard he suddenly goes very pink and tries to avoid eye contact with you. He barely looks twenty-five, only four years older than you.

You look to Polly for permission, and she nods at you to go ahead. The guy looks mortified as you make your way across the room towards him; by now most of the other trainees have stopped to watch.

"Hi, I'm Y/N." you introduce yourself, holding out your hand for him to shake, which he does.

"Hey. Sorry if you heard..."

"Do you mind?" you ask his partner, who shakes her head and backs off of the mat they had been stood on together.

"Shall we?" you ask, holding out your arms: an invitation for him to attack you. He hesitates.

"I-"

"Oh, come on. You can't take on a kid?" you ask, frowning. He looks embarrassed, but also confident. Cocky.

He makes the mistake of actually accepting your challenge. Within ten seconds you've easily dodged his attack, made a counterattack which he fails to block and then swiped his legs out from underneath him, leaving him lying winded on his back.

An impressed murmur ripples around the room, and someone whistles.

You get to your feet and hold out a hand for him to take. He grabs it and gets to his feet sheepishly, straightening his top.

"I'm twenty-one." you tell him, before making your way back across the room to Loki and Amber who are both staring at you.

"Right! Time for some demonstrations then, I think." Polly says, moving back into the middle of the room. "Everyone against the far wall, please."

She asks you to demonstrate the move you had just performed on the guy on her, but slower, and then calls people up to try and perform it on you. You don't allow anyone to successfully get you on your back except for one girl who looks so nervous her face is practically green.

She looks ecstatic when she pulls the move off.

Then Polly asks Amber to take to the floor. Obviously she feels the need to take Loki with her to demonstrate some moves.

You pointedly don't watch as they fight (Loki is clearly going easy on her; you're sure he could put her through the far wall if he really wanted to), instead watching the apprehensive faces of the recruits as they watch Loki.

Then some of the recruits take on Amber while you and Loki watch.

"It was good of you to let that girl best you." Loki mutters as you watch Amber.

"I didn't let her. She did it herself." you tell him firmly. He looks down at you disbelievingly and you meet his gaze, shrugging innocently. Why does he have to be so tall?

The next time Amber gestures for Loki to join her you stride out to meet her instead. This is exactly what you need.

By the end of the session you've accidentally given Amber some accidental minor injuries, which you've apologised profusely for.

The recruits leave to get ready for dinner and Amber goes off to find a doctor. You feel only slightly bad as she limps off. Loki doesn't follow her.

"So, who stood out?" Polly asks you once everyone except the two of you and Loki are gone.

"My top three were Maya, Henry and Ffion." you tell her, and she frowns before making some notes.

"I had Henry and Ffion down, but Maya?" she asks, referring to the girl who you'd let take you down.

"She's just nervous. By Sunday she'll be top of the class, I'm sure of it." you tell her firmly.

"Well, we'll see. Thanks for today. Training starts at nine am tomorrow morning. See you at dinner?"

You smile and nod as she leaves the room, leaving you with Loki.

"Did you see how they were all looking at me?" Loki asks you, as soon as the door swings shut.

"Yes." you reply shortly, unsure of what else to say.

"Are you sure it was a good idea, bringing me here?" he continues, looking at you. There's real uncertainty on his face. Your heart skips a few beats.

"Yes. Once people start seeing you around and working for SHIELD, they'll relax." you tell him, not letting your face give anything away.

"I can't believe Fury let me come here with you alone. I was sure Thor would have to accompany us."

"Me too. Clearly he thinks I'm capable of getting you to stay here." you reply, slightly smugly.

"Are you now?" Loki asks, raising an eyebrow. Your mouth quirks into a smile. You've missed this.

"Clearly." you repeat.

"Prove it." he says, and you grin before moving into the middle of the room. Loki follows you slowly, and you begin to circle one another.

"No magic." you warn, holding up a hand.

"That rather defeats the point." Loki protests.

"Oh, because you know I'll beat you without your magic?" you tease.

"Hardly-" he scoffs, and you launch yourself at him before he's finished talking, taking him by surprise.

First you try the move you'd pulled off on the guy earlier, but Loki sees it coming and blocks you, reaching around to grab your arm and spinning you into a tight hold. You hook your arms under his and twist your body sharply, yanking upwards and inciting a hiss of pain from him as he's forced to release you.

This goes on for several more minutes before you finally manage to kick at the back of his knees to knock him off balance and slam him to the ground, a triumphant "hah!" escaping you as you do.

For about three seconds you sit on top of him, pinning him to the ground whilst you both catch your breath. Then you realise that you're sat on top of him. Your faces are extremely close together, and he looks angry.

Before you can even think about getting off of him, you're suddenly flying backwards through the air, and then something is holding you up off of the ground. You look down and find yourself covered in a sort of green mist.

"I said no magic!" you gasp, still trying to catch your breath, blowing your hair out of your face. You can't move.

"If I wanted to leave, I could. Easily." Loki says, getting up and walking slowly over to you, looking up at you as he speaks.

"You just can't handle being beaten by a Midgardian." you taunt. Loki stops beneath you, looking up.

"Admit it. I could leave if I wanted to." he tells you.

"Put me down." you say, suddenly nervous, even though you know he won't hurt you.

"Admit it." Loki repeats. You'll do no such thing. Instead, you glare down at him and let your power come rushing from your chest.

You hadn't been expecting it to break you out of his magic, but it does. It occurs to you that it's probably only because he'd been taken by surprise.

When you hit the floor pain shoots through your left ankle and you wince in pain, before you're being dragged to your feet by his magic again.

"Don't even try," Loki tells you. "My magic is a thousand times more powerful than yours; you can't even begin to understand-"

"Alright, I'm pretty sure we've had this conversation before. Put me down, I'm hurt." you interrupt him, looking down at your ankle.

His magic disappears and you sit down heavily, feeling your ankle gently. It's swollen; you suspect you've torn something.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It wasn't you." you say through gritted teeth, trying to get to your feet.

"Stop it; you're hurt. Let me." Loki says, pushing you back down gently and joining you on the floor. You watch as he holds his hands over your ankle and the green mist envelopes his hands and your ankle, which goes very hot and then very cold.

He bites his lip subconsciously as he fixes your ankle, and you find yourself watching his face rather than his hands.

"There. Done." he says eventually, and you realise that your ankle doesn't hurt anymore.

"Thanks." you say, flexing your foot. It feels fine. You both get to your feet.

"I will admit that there is a possibility that you might be able to leave. If you really wanted to." you say, avoiding his gaze as you admit it.

"I'm not going to leave." he tells you.

"Good." you nod, before leading the way out of the room, trying not to smile as you think of Amber's injuries.

Loki hadn't offered to fix them.