The reader is a female!

Summary: Loki sees something in you which causes him to save you in the middle of the battle in New York.

Warnings: Reader almost gets crushed by a truck but otherwise, none (well that sounded bad XD)

Word count: 915

It was chaos. Flying alien lizards flew across the city, and the battle between the Chitauri and the Avengers was going strong. Chitauris destroyed pretty much everything in their way, and you had unfortunately got caught in the middle of the battle when you had been heading home.

You could see a truck flying towards you, and you knew there wasn't a chance you would make it out alive - there was no time to run. Still, out of instinct, you shielded yourself with your hands as the shadow of the truck consumed your form.

But the impact never came. Instead, you felt like someone grabbed you and pulled you away. And when you opened your eyes, you were in a dark alleyway, seeing a figure of a man with a glowing staff - and it hit you.

It was the man who had started the battle. You winced at the sight of him, being sure that he's going to get you killed - but instead, he made some kind of a transparent wall around you, and then he just... left. You saw him walking away and getting on one of the Chitauri ships.

You stared at the street in wonder - all the noise from the battle sounded like they came from behind a wall, they were muffled and you could barely hear some of it.

Why that man had saved you? He had made it very clear previously that he thought people were "puny" and he was some kind of a god who wanted to take over the world. What did he see in you that he didn't see in other people on Earth, that made him save you? Why he didn't just watch you get crushed by that truck?

As the battle went on, you barely paid attention to it anymore. Your mind was running by the scene over and over again - you had never met that man and still... he had saved you.

Eventually, the silence engulfed the city - a complete silence. You could see only dust and. But a red-haired woman - one of the Avengers - found you, and she called for backup for breaking the shield which kept you inside.

—-

After you had been freed and told the Avengers that someone had saved you from being crushed and made a shield around you so you would be safe, the Avengers were confused. Thor furrowed his eyebrows, while he looked at the fragment of the shield he had just broken with his hammer. "This seems like something the Tesseract would be able to do, but-"

Tony Stark - or Iron Man - groaned. "Don't tell me your dear brother has saved her?"

Thor shrugged. "I know it sounds crazy."

Iron Man finally turned his gaze on you. "Hey, would you describe the man who saved you? And please don't say it was that Christmas gnome with a green leather suit..."

You nodded slowly. "I- I don't know why he saved me."

The Avengers looked at each other and nobody said anything for a moment, before Tony started rubbing his face in frustration as he glanced at Thor. "Don't even think about it, this changes nothing."

Thor shook his head. "No, this changes everything. Our father always says that saving the innocent - even if just one innocent - tells about a sign of the pure heart. He wouldn't want me to take my brother back."

Tony huffed. "So what do you propose? Let him waltz around the city, trusting that he's just pulling innocent pranks for the end of time? What about that poor woman who has had a bad day and then she sits on a whoopee cushion on a bus because your dear brother put it there?"

"We could warn him, one mistake and he's imprisoned for life." Thor proposed and approving gazes between other Avengers was exchanged. Captain America stepped forward and put his hand on Tony's shoulder.

"If Thor is right and Asgard won't take him, he's going to come back to Earth anyway." he muttered and Tony let out a loud sigh.

"Fine, but we'll keep a close eye on him. And if he does one mistake - the tiniest of mistakes - he's out."

—-

Loki observed the city from the Stark tower, when the Avengers came back and brought you with them. Loki offered you a smile as a greeting, but you didn't return it - you were still unsure whether you should trust him. But still, you walked beside him to one of the large windows.

"So... the pretty lady seems to be okay." He glanced at you and you nodded. Silence consumed you for a while.

"Why did you save me?" you finally asked, and Loki chuckled.

"Couldn't let a fine lady die."

"That can't be the only reason."

"What if it is?"

Silence again, and Loki glanced at Thor, who had stopped looking at you two for a moment.

You sighed. "Well, thank you for saving me. But make sure this doesn't happen again."

Loki shot you a grin. "So... I can't save you again?"

You rolled your eyes and sighed, but you were unable to hide a small smile forming to your face. "You know what I mean."

Maybe Loki saw something more in you which he didn't want to say aloud, or maybe his conscience had finally shown signs of getting to be a better person - but in any case, this was the start of a blooming friendship.