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MELANIE sat in between Clint and Nat during the meeting, doodling shapes on her notepad. She wasn't entirely sure why she was invited, but she couldn't be more disinterested.

She met Nick Fury for the first time, offered him peanut butter cookies with a hopeful smile, and beamed excitedly when he quietly asked her for a bag to take home.

Everyone said he was intimidating, but Melanie couldn't really see it.

Melanie sighed, crossing the 'x' on the tic-tak-toe board she and Clint had created, then doodled a heart with an arrow through it on Nat's notepad.

Natasha didn't react, but Melanie knew she liked it.

Clint put an 'o' on the top right corner, and Melanie crossed her line, smiling softly to herself: she'd totally won.

"Dismissed," Steve stood first, nodding for everyone to disperse, and Melanie let out a breath of relief.

"Please never make me do this again," she asked Natasha in a low voice. "That was so boring I thought my head was going to explode."

"You need to know what's going on, Mel," Natasha shook her head. "It's for your own safety."

"It's dumb," Melanie shrugged. "If I'm in there but I'm not an Avenger, then why isn't Loki?"

"Because you're our cute baker," Natasha pressed her against a wall in the hallway outside the briefing room. "And he's a mass murderer."

Melanie hummed in thought. "I think to Loki, we're like bugs. How many bugs have you killed, Nat? I think I've killed a hundred. I hate them. So, to Loki, he's just like...bam, splat, ants are gone, those annoying pests. But to us, the ants, we're like, oh noooo, this is terrible. You know?"

Natasha grinned, letting out a small laugh, before pressing her lips to Melanie's, kissing her softly. "You're so cute," she pulled back, the girls walking down the halls again.

"Are we doing karaoke night tonight?" Melanie asked Tony as they passed him.

"Don't sing and I might agree to it."

"I'm a great singer," Melanie pouted.

"You big the saddest 80's music or Taylor Swift," Tony rolled his eyes. "No one needs to see that again."

"I like your music taste," Bruce spoke up as he joined them in the elevator. "Swift's not bad."

"Does she soothe the Hulk?" Melanie asked excitedly.

"No," Bruce chuckled. "But she's talented. I like the album with the sad stuff."

"That's so unspecific," Melanie whispered.

"You all need better music taste," Tony pointed out. "Though, I'll give it to you, at least its not like Rasputin over here," he pointed to Natasha, who rolled her eyes.

Melanie knew that Natasha also liked Taylor Swift. And a lot of the same bands that Tony did. But she didn't voice that.

"Maybe I'll sing you a Russian song tonight," Natasha said to Tony as the doors opened. "It'll be the plot of your death."

Melanie let out a giggle as the two walked off in the direction of Melanie's bedroom.

"I have to go," Natasha pressed a soft kiss to her lips, stroking her hair gently. "I'll see you tomorrow though, okay? Steve and I will be back soon."

Melanie nodded, pulling her girlfriend into a hug.

"моя милая девочка," Natasha breathed out. "I'll see you soon."

"Okay." Melanie pulled back and Natasha kissed her once more; soft, sweet, gentle.

Natasha pulled away and Melanie watched her go, leaning against the wall, smiling to herself. Melanie turned in a high, walking on cloud nine, and fell into slumber as soon as her head hit the pillow.

—

Melanie had always had strange dreams.

Most were random or funny — except the recurring nightmare of Peter being taken from her by the aliens, those were not random or funny — but that night was different.

Melanie felt like she was looking through the eyes of another.

One of her hands was gloved and the other was metal or armored. There was a dark stain on the glove and a red stain on the metal hand and Melanie really, really wished it were paint.

Her eyes shifted up and she saw a man in a suit pointing a gun to her.

Melanie didn't hesitate before storming towards the man, reaching her metal hand out and twisting the man's neck in half.

A horrible, guttural, painful scream sounded, and Melanie winced at the noise. Who was screaming?

She turned around to look but spotted no one.

"Melanie!"

Someone knew she was there but she didn't even know how she'd gotten there. How did they find her? What did they want with her?

Melanie jolted and suddenly she was in her room in Avengers Tower, a familiar face watching her in concern.

"L-Loki?" Melanie asked scratchily, eyes welling with tears. She looked down at her hands — they were normal. Her hands. She was still wearing Lucy's old wedding ring on her left hand.

She was still Melanie.

Collapsing against Loki in complete and utter exhaustion, she cried against him.

Surprised and unsure, Loki let her cry for a few minutes before pulling her to him, resting his chin on her head.

"It's alright," he soothed softly.

She could still hear the screaming.

But his voice drowned it out.

"I'm here," he whispered. "Nothing will happen to you, litt kjærlighet. It's alright."

Loki was gone when she woke up again.

—

Melanie sat on the roof of the Tower, legs dangling as she watched the city below her. She felt distanced from it, smaller, somehow.

It was a strange feeling — to know the Avengers. To slowly call them friends, and lovers, in Nat's case, but to care for them as she did and know the world looked up to them. To be nothing but normal in their life.

She wasn't special.

She wasn't extraordinary.

She was just Melanie.

Melanie looked up and thought of her brother. Was he still alive? What was space like? Did he think of her?

She wondered if it were better if he were dead. Surely, if he were alive, he would've come back for her. Or maybe he was held prisoner somewhere.

That's why she often hoped he was dead.

Because being dead was better than being held hostage, right?

Melanie hoped the mission Natasha was on was going well. A part of her felt like it was lost when Natasha wasn't around. She missed Steve, too. Aside from Nat and maybe Clint, Steve was her favorite Avenger.

He always made her laugh, and he acted the way Melanie imagined Peter would act if he were still around. Kind, friendly, always making room for her in a conversation.

She thought of Loki and wondered if she'd only dreamt of him the night before. She thought he was there, it felt like he was there, but she hadn't heard from or seen him since.

Melanie wondered if he was happy with his situation. She couldn't imagine he was. To live in a tower with people that forced him to stop his ploy to dominate an entire species — it couldn't be fun.

She also wondered why he'd attacked Earth in the first place. He hadn't tried anything since being caught and she wondered if he would try anything again.

Loki seemed kind of...dormant, to her. Quiet, but not timid. Dark, but not vicious.

"You okay, kiddo?"

Melanie looked up, spotting Tony in his suit, flying down to her and taking a seat. He unveiled the front of his mask and looked at her. She shrugged.

"Just thinking," she explained. "How're you?"

"I'm good," Tony smiled kindly. "I brought donuts," he held up a bag. "Want one?"

Melanie laughed softly. "It's six p.m.," she looked at him in disbelief. "First Nat gets ice cream donuts at three in the morning, and now you're offering donuts in the evening? No wonder you guys need a chef."

Tony chuckled, handing her one. "You're a good kid," he told her. "I read about your brother. That sucks."

Melanie sighed. "It was a long time ago," she grabbed the donut, taking a bite.

"Hard to get over," he acknowledged.

"I guess," Melanie nodded. "Tony, why'd you pick me?" She asked curiously. "You had a lot of candidates, and Nat brought me in, but you didn't have to hire me."

Tony was quiet for a moment, taking a bite of his donut and swallowing before he replied. "I got a good feeling about you," he said gently. "I can't explain it."

"Loki's my soulmate, too," she confessed softly. She wasn't ashamed of it, for reasons she didn't understand, but she knew it wouldn't please him. "I don't know why but...I know that'll make you feel differently."

Tony absorbed her words, staring at the skyline beyond them. "You're a good kid," he repeated. "Whatever reasoning behind you and reindeer games is the same reason I'm with Pep." He glanced at her. "If I hated you because of your soulmate, it'd be kind of a double standard, right? Maybe you can change him."

Melanie frowned. "I don't want to change anyone," she admitted. "If he's my soulmate, then he is...because of who he is now. Not because of who he can be."

"This conversation is too deep for me," Tony snorted, standing and offering her a hand. "Come on, Gordon Ramsay." Melanie laughed at the nickname, taking his hand and standing. "Make me a sandwich."

—

TRANSLATIONS:
моя милая девочка - my sweet girl
itt kjærlighet - little love