The rest of the week went in much the same way. You had class during the day. Tony made sure he was awake to take you to school and either he or Nat would pick you up afterwards. Loki helped you with your homework and spent most afternoons and evenings with you. The rest of the time he spent reading and being ignored by everyone else. You wondered how he would ever join the team if they wouldn't give him a chance.

You healed from your wounds by Friday thanks to Loki's illicit help. Tony wasn't pleased that you and Loki spent so much time together, or that you were friends at all, but he kept his feelings to himself. He'd learned his lesson when you'd been hurt. When he'd hurt you. He wouldn't risk you being hurt again. Especially not by him.

Friday night, you put the last of the Loki movies on the TV for you and Loki to watch. Tony came in before the movie started. "We're all going out on patrol tonight," he told you. "Everyone on active duty. We heard The Harlequin might be staging an attack." The Harlequin was one of the super villains who seemed to have acquired mutant abilities when magic entered the world again. They kept causing trouble for the team.

"Is Loki going with you?" you asked. Tony didn't usually come tell you he was leaving. He went on patrol nearly every evening so he didn't always tell you when he was going out, unless it was extra important. You would pause the movie and be just fine on your own for the night if he was.

Tony shook his head firmly. "He's not cleared yet, and we're not up to babysitting tonight. This is too important. He's staying here. I don't like it, but you two will be the only ones here tonight," Tony handed you the giant dagger he was holding. Somehow you hadn't seen the giant dagger in his hands. That's something you should have noticed. "If he tries anything, stab him first, ask questions later,"

"Uncle Tony!" you exclaimed, trying to hand the dagger back to him. "We don't kill people!" you protested. That was one of the rules of superheroes. No killing unless absolutely necessary.

"I never said to, but you don't have powers and he does. I don't trust him and I want you safe," Tony told you. He wasn't taking chances with your safety. He had to leave you and the reformed villain babysitting each other, but he wasn't going to leave you helpless about it. No matter what you said.

"He doesn't have powers right now," you reminded your uncle, who as a certifiable genius wasn't usually so stupid. He handed you one more item: a key.

"Loki, you're on guard duty, since you're the only one here with powers," Tony addressed him as quickly as possible before he turned back to you. "If something happens, unlock his chains," he told you. You knew that meant that you weren't suppose to unlock his chains unless there truly was an emergency.

Like that was going to happen.

You nodded and stuffed the key in the pocket of your pajama pants. You carefully set the dagger down on your end table and turned to give Tony a hug. "Be careful," you bid him. It sounded like this was a bigger mission than usual if all of the supers were heading out.

"You too, kid," he replied and ruffled your hair. He and the rest of the supers all went out on their patrols.

You turned to Loki and produced the key when they were gone. You grinned at him and walked over to him, your intent clear.

"Your uncle said to only free me if there was danger," Loki reminded you. You knew he wanted free of the shackles, but he wouldn't ask it of you or risk either of you getting in trouble over it.

"Actually, he said 'if something happens'," you replied as you unlocked the shackles around his wrists.

"And what, pray tell, will you tell him happened?" Loki asked dryly, rubbing his sore wrists from where the manacles had been rubbing his skin for days.

You shrugged, trying to look innocent. "Not planning to tell him anything. I just thought you'd like a few hours of freedom. We have at least that before they return from patrol. Besides, if something does happen, I don't want to wait until I can manage to free you before you can stop it," he nodded, accepting your pragmatism. At least, he wasn't going to argue too hard when you'd freed him.

You went to the kitchen and got the popcorn you had made for the movie. It had just gone off when Tony came to make his announcement about tonight's patrol.

"So what are your powers?" you asked Loki as you came back into the common room and placed the bowl of popcorn between you on the couch. Loki just gestured at the movie.

"They were fairly accurate," he admitted grudgingly, though unhelpfully. He clearly didn't want to discuss it. "Though I can also heal, as you know," you nodded and settled on the couch, under a blanket, since it was cool in the common room that night.

"Are you also a frost giant?" you asked gently. He looked away, embarrassed. You should've dropped it then, but you were too curious for your own good. "What?" you prompted when he didn't answer.

"They are called Jotuns," he answered carefully. He still hadn't answered if he was one of them or not. You didn't force the issue. It wasn't an issue really, you already knew that he wasn't human.

Though you did wonder why he seemed so fascinated with you.

"So, will you show me any of your powers while you can use them?" you asked curiously before the movie started. He thought about it for a moment, then got to his feet. He offered you a hand and pulled you to your feet next to him. He wrapped one cool arm around your waist while he held the other in front of him with a look of concentration etched on his face. A moment later, green light surrounded the pair of you. When it faded, you were standing in a beautiful city with three moons in the sky.

"This is my home," he told you, leading you towards the golden palace. He told you the name of things, but they were in his native Asgardian, and you couldn't pick the words apart to remember them. You walked into the palace and he gave you the tour, even showing you his parents and siblings. After the tour of the massive library, and some of his favorite places in the city, the illusion faded and you were back standing in the common room.

"That was amazing!" you told him with true glee in your voice. "I've never seen any illusions that real." He let go of your waist quickly, as if he realized he was still touching you. You grinned at him. "Thank you for showing me," you added. It was always best to be polite. You could see he was flustered, though. Maybe he wasn't used to praise or thanks.

So you took your seat on the couch and started the movie, trying to contain your glee. He settled back into his own place on the couch a moment later and you saw him trying to relax.

After the movie, you switched on news and Loki went to reading, aka devouring, the latest book he had claimed from your collection. You curled up with the book he had lent you. You didn't devour books as fast as he did, but you also had less time than usual to read this week. You listened to the news as background noise, waiting to hear something about the patrols or The Harlequin. There was no news of either. That didn't keep you from staying up too late waiting for the supers to return.

You didn't realize that you had dozed off on the couch until Loki shook you awake and held up the shackles. "You should return these before your uncle finds out what you did," he told you when you were coherent enough to look over at him with bleary eyes. You nodded. Somehow. You didn't want to, but Loki was right. You would both be dead if Tony found out what you had done.

"I'm sorry," you told him as you snapped the shackles back on his wrists.

"I know, lady Thank you for trusting me this evening," he replied, his voice gentle and kind.

"I always trust you," you reminded him, your voice still sleep fogged.

He shook his head.

"Not like this, not with my full powers." You shrugged; you didn't see the difference. You went back to your book and Loki went back to his. It was just in time. Tony came in a minute later, rushing to make sure you were ok. You smiled up at him.

"You're back!" You called, jumping to your feet to greet him. You wrapped your arms around his neck. You always worried when they went out in force like that. When every super was called out on patrol.

"Yes, I'm fine. There was no sign of The Harlequin or her clowns. Just a few normal criminals," he told you as he set you back on your feet from the hug. Tony didn't hug much and you were one of the very few exceptions. "Did he behave himself?" he gestured at Loki with a cruel look in his eyes.

"Perfect gentleman," you replied sincerely. Tony didn't look like he wanted to believe you, but he knew you wouldn't lie, not about something that big. You handed the key back to him, because you had to and bit back a yawn. Though the action didn't convince Tony. He knew you'd been up since you'd had to get ready for school that morning.

"Off to bed with you, imp," he told you. You stuck your tongue out at him and went to collect your book from your end table.

"Thank you for keeping me company, this evening," you told Loki warmly. You'd appreciated his company as well as the magic he'd done on your account.

"Goodnight, Lady Kathryn. Sleep well," he replied, inclining his head politely. You gave him a brilliant smile and headed up to bed. Tony stayed and talked to Loki while you did after telling you goodnight. You had the feeling he was trying to keep Loki from following you until you was safely in your own room, even though the pair of you had been alone in the tower for the last however many hours.

When you opened the door to your room, you found it absolutely covered in illusion roses. You grinned like an idiot when you saw them. They even smelled like real roses, though you saw the slight glimmer of green light that betrayed that they were fake. You took a picture on you phone and sent it to Loki.

-They're beautiful- was the message you attached with them.

-I am glad you like them- he replied. You were proud of him for catching on how to text so quickly.

You were grinning while you fell asleep that night surrounded by the scent of roses.