You woke in the most comfortable bed you could remember being in with the sun shining in your eyes. Both of those items were strange. You were used to the hard beds of Hydra. You were also used to the militaristic environment were you were up before dawn every day. Being allowed to sleep in until the sun was shining in your eyes was a luxury that you hadn't been allowed since before Hydra had taken you. You luxuriated in it until your bladder insisted that you get up.

Traitorous bladder.

You got up from your too comfortable bed and headed to the bathroom to take care of your human needs. You were just getting dressed after a lava hot shower when there was a knock on your door. You hurriedly finished dressing and went to see who it was.

Cap was waiting on the other side of the door for you. "Morning," he greeted you.

"Good morning," you replied a bit warily, unsure what he would be doing at your room and what he wanted.

"We need you down at the training room," he explained his presence without preamble, sensing that you were looking for a proper explanation. "We need to get a proper assessment of your skills and abilities before you can join the team officially,"

You nodded and wished absently that he had told you that was in the plan before you had luxuriated in a hot shower. You were just going to have to get another one after the training session. Oh well. You were sure Stark's water heater was up to the task.

"Give me just a minute. I need to change into something more appropriate for training," you told Cap. Once he nodded, you closed the door. You quickly changed into training gear and tied your hair out of your way before you opened the door again. Cap was talking to Loki when you stepped out into the hall.

"Why must I be the one to help with this assignment?" Loki was asking Cap from his room. He clearly didn't want to do whatever it was the Cap was making him do.

"Because you're the newest member of the team. We need someone to spar against her and you drew the short stick,"

"Very well," Loki grumbled when he saw that you had come out of your room. He had run out of time to argue with the Captain. His clothes shimmered to training gear as well and he stepped out of his room. He looked put-upon. He clearly didn't want to do this.

You had a feeling that you understood why. He would much rather be flirting with you than fighting with you, even if it was mock-fighting like a sparring match. Sparring wasn't his idea of flirting. Or at least not how he wanted to flirt with you, not when he wanted to get to know you.

The three of you made your way down to the training rooms on one of the lower floors of the tower. The rest of the team was already gathered waiting for you. Great, you got an audience to watch you get your ass handed to you. There was no way Loki wasn't winning this sparring match. Yes, you were a decent fighter and well trained, but Loki was a god. He had centuries more training than you did. There was no way he wasn't winning.

The team stayed against one wall to watch and you stepped into the middle of the room where training mats were set up and stretched for a minute to get warmed up. Loki did the same a few feet away, though you doubted he really needed to warm up or stretch. You tried to focus on your own stretching and keep your mind off of the attractive god next to you and the glimpses of pale skin you could see at his hemline, or how his shirt clung to his abs. Neither of those thoughts were helpful.

You caught him glancing over at you more often than he should have been as well. It seemed like you weren't the only one having trouble keeping your mind on the exercise.

All too soon, though, you had to get to the actual sparring. You took your places in the middle of the room. "Remember, Loki, we want to see what she can do," Cap reiterated. He didn't want you defeated. He wanted to see your skills.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Yes, I remember," he replied dryly.

"Let's see what you've got, kid!" Stark called too gleefully.

You bowed to Loki out of habit and respect, indicating this was a friendly sparring match. Loki smirked at the formality, but he returned the gesture before you each took your starting positions. You fell into your fighting stance, knees bent, body turned sideways, left hand at shoulder height, right hand at your stomach. Loki took a stance like he was holding one of his daggers, left hand up at his chest, right hand down at his side, feet spread for balance.

You didn't take him lightly just because he was unarmed. He fought with daggers for a reason. He was fast as fuck. He had to be in order to fight with daggers. There was no way to fight with them successfully without being fast.

You had to be faster.

You slid in and tapped an attack at his foot as if trying to sweep his leg. You knew he would divert, but it also took all of his attention to his leg, at which time you jabbed at his face, which took all of his attention to his face, at which time you got a solid punch in to his stomach that he wasn't expecting. You slid back out of range before he retaliated.

With that, the battle was on. The pair of you moved at speed, trading blows, looking for openings, landing hits where you could. The hits you were landing were controlled. Taps, not true hits. This was a sparring match, not a real battle. You knew that Loki could put you on your ass at any moment, but he was letting you show your skills. In a fight for your life, you could hold your own.

"Weapons!" Cap called at some point during the match.

You both stepped back long enough to summon your weapons. Loki summoned a pair of daggers. You summoned a pair of longer blades. With that done, the battle began again, this time with the clang of blade against blade.

The third round added bolts of magic to your arsenal as well.

"Enough!" Cap finally called and you stepped back, dripping sweat and exhausted. You vanished your blades and bowed to Loki again, acknowledgement of a well fought match.

Somehow, you'd survived.

"Well fought, Lady Sigyn!" Thor called in his boisterous way as Loki also vanished his blades.

"Well fought indeed, Lady," Loki agreed, his voice a purr, bowing to you without a smirk this time.

Somehow, he'd managed to turn sparring into flirting after all...