"If you so much as open your mouth, I am slapping you into next Tuesday," Tony's voice was harsh when he caught you as you jerked awake. You were dripping wet, completely soaked, somehow, and had fallen from...the top of your dresser? Also the fire alarm was going off. What the hell was going on?

Loki!

Loki was in danger, Balder was killing him. You shoved your way out of Tony's arms, vaguely noticing the noise cancelling headphones on his head. Tony grabbed you before you ran to Loki, shoving you against the wall and holding you there. "Sorry, Kat. Fury's orders for whoever managed to get to you first," Tony said with true sorrow in his eyes. You raised your brows, starting to question him. What on earth did he have to be sorry for? Besides delaying you getting to Loki. You kept your mouth shut, though, you really didn't want to get slapped into next Tuesday.

Instead, Tony slapped a piece of tape over your mouth. You assumed it was duct tape. You rolled your eyes. Whatever made Fury happy. You'd take it off when this mess was cleaned up. You shoved Tony out of the way and ran over to Loki.

Veronica was next to the bed. Of course, she'd been immune to your screams.

Loki was unconscious, blood pouring from his ears. He'd taken the full blast of the stupid power. You held his left hand with your glowing blue left hand, the soulbond flaring as you searched for healing power to use on him. You hadn't been asleep long enough to recharge. Thankfully, it didn't take much. He wasn't really that hurt.

Balder had tricked you. It had been an illusion of Loki in the dream. Your Loki was perfectly fine after a little healing.

Asshole.

You should've known better than to let him trick you.

"Kat, we need to get out of here," Tony told you the second your hands stopped glowing. Loki was still unconscious. You gestured to him helplessly. You weren't leaving him behind. "I'll get him, come on." You didn't move until Tony had thrown Loki over his shoulder and grabbed your wrist to drag you with him. "Outside," he ordered firmly. "The fire department will be here any minute, and we need to all be outside before they get here." He finally took his headphones off as he dragged you from the tower to the front lawn where all of the supers who lived in the tower were gathered. He dragged you further from the main entrance than almost everyone else, where you wouldn't be seen by the fire department when they got there. He dumped Loki on the ground next to you. "Stay here, quietly, and don't interact with the fire department or the police when they inevitably show up." Tony ordered firmly, sounding like you had done something wrong.

You hadn't.

You sat on the grass next to Loki and pulled his head onto your lap, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. There were only a couple other people who were still unconscious. You recognized them as the people who lived on the floor below yours. You and Loki were the only two who lived on your floor. Now that things were a little calmer, you reached up to take the tape off of your mouth.

You reached up to take the tape off your mouth.

You took the tape off of your mouth.

You. Took. The. Tape. Off. Of. Your. Mouth.

It wouldn't budge.

Veronica snapped to get your attention. You looked up at her, glaring. [Tony made that. It's not coming off]

[He has got to stop making things that interfere with my life] you signed back at her. She laughed. [What happened? Why isn't everyone...more hurt?]

[I had a vision] Veronica explained. She was deaf, but she had the strongest most accurate premonitions of anyone you knew. [I just didn't know when the premonition would take place, or I would have warned you when you were in the infirmary tonight. I thought there was more time. I had given Fury a warning that if I were to pull the fire alarm everyone should put on headphones or earplugs and get the hell out of the compound. Thank god he took me seriously. I saw Tony, Fury, Julia and Claire all yelling in the infirmary in the same outfits from the premonition and knew it was time. So I hit the fire alarm]

[You saved everyone] you replied. The fire alarm would have saved those on the lower levels from hearing you. Fury's memo to all of the supers to put on headphones when the fire alarm went off probably saved the rest.

[It was a close thing. About thirty seconds after you did, people started running downstairs, their ears bleeding beneath their headphones. The fire alarm broke the spell once they couldn't hear you anymore. So what made you scream like that? Fury said you were screaming.]

[Nightmare. Balder has the power to affect dreams] you explained quickly while you scanned Loki with your powers again, concerned when he wasn't waking. He wasn't trapped in a nightmare, though. He was just unconscious. [How did I get soaked? And falling from my dresser?] you were shivering in the cool night's air. Spring was just beginning and it was still cold outside. All of the kids were huddled together. Everyone was wearing their pajamas, huddling around fires that the firestarters created. You didn't dare try to create one right now, even though your pajamas were drenched.

[Sorry. I couldn't wake you. I thought water might snap you out of it... You wouldn't stop screaming.] She was the safest person to have tried to come wake you. [Tony came in next and tried that thing from that Inception movie, where if you fall it will kick your brain into waking you up. He slapped you first, but that didn't work either.] You didn't even notice that your face hurt until she said something. Luckily, Tony hadn't slapped you with any force.

Pepper came over to your little group and sat down next to me, laying her head on your shoulder. She had finished talking with the police and wanted to rest away from the press.

Wanda came over next and looked expectantly at your group. "What happened?" She asked. You and Veronica just gave the other a look and then looked at Wanda like she wasn't thinking. "I just asked the two people in the compound who can't talk to me for answers didn't I?" She asked at her own folly.

You both nodded.

/Don't be scared/ you told her telepathically. It took too much focus for this, so you'd have to be brief. /Balder attacked us through that awful curse he put in me/

"And that's why you have Tony-tape on your mouth?" she asked. You nodded, but gave her a look. "Tony and Bruce made that stuff. I don't know what their actual purpose was for it, but Fury is thinking of using it instead of handcuffs in the field. It dissolves in 24 hours. Unfortunately nothing in the 'verse can dissolve it before then," she added. You huffed and pulled a dagger from the sheath which had materialized at your back. Wanda grabbed your arm before you could go kill someone. "You can't kill Tony," she reminded you. You glared at her then pointed your dagger toward Fury. "You definitely can't kill him. He'd kick your ass." you frowned, but put the dagger away. You'd kill them both later.

You sat silently for a few more minutes though you had to hide your face when the fire department and police wandered around to question people. You didn't want them seeing you or trying to question you.

Loki finally began to stir. You ran your fingers through his hair, hoping to comfort him some before he woke in a panic. It failed. He shot up looking around frantically. /Lo, I'm here. We're fine/ you told him, reaching out to touch his arm. He whirled and pulled you to him hard enough to crush the wind from your lungs. /Ease up, love. I would like to continue breathing/ He loosened his grip some, but still held onto you tightly.

"You're freezing," he grumbled at you. He actually felt warm to you. That wasn't a good thing.

[Veronica decided that throwing a bucket of water on me to wake me was a good idea. Then we had to come out here because of the fire alarm] you signed that for Veronica's benefit.

[It seemed like a good plan] she replied indignantly. [Water usually wakes people up]. Loki used magic to summon dry clothes for you. They happened to be one of his t-shirts, his pajama pants, his robe, and a blanket over top of it all. Of course he was feeling uneasy tonight. He touched the tape over your mouth, concerned.

/That is courtesy of Fury and Tony. I will be killing them once there are fewer witnesses/ you grumbled at him. /Apparently it cannot be removed for 24 hours/

"I will help you murder them later," he replied with the smallest of smiles. "What happened?" he asked you gently. Instead of answering, you gave him permission to view your memories. It was faster, easier, and you trusted him not to pry. You felt him enter your mind and focused on your 'dream' with Balder to make it easier for him to find and see. You had gotten good at that sort of fake telepathy before you had powers, and it was easier now that you did have powers. He slipped back out of your mind a moment later. He pulled you onto his lap and leaned down to whisper in your ear. "That should have been very impossible. I spelled you. He should not have been able to break through my magic to attack you."