"So, darling, would you care to explain how you forgot to shield yourself when you shielded everyone else?" Loki asked you dryly as he drove you to the tower compound where the Avengers lived. "As I recall, that was the first thing I taught you after you acquired my powers through the soulbond." Loki wasn't pleased with you for forgetting that absolute basic of magic.

"It's Uncle Tony's fault-" you started, but hesitated, not wanting to throw Tony completely under the bus.

"Excellent," Loki replied with a smirk. "I could use an excuse to punch him in the face. It is so much more satisfactory when there is a valid reason behind the punch," Loki added wistfully. He wouldn't actually punch Tony without a damn good reason. And it had to be a reason that you would agree to.

You couldn't help laughing. "You can't rough him up too badly or Pepper will kill you," you reminded him. He laughed at that and acquiesced that Pepper would indeed kill him. A minute passed and he gave you a look, so you sighed and finally continued your story. "I'm not constantly assigned on patrols like most of the rest of the supers...until last month anyway. When I am, I'm always on Tony's team. You know how Tony is. He only assigns me as support, shielding the others, dampening fires, and healing mostly. So I've gotten so used to shielding everyone else while Tony insists I stay away from the danger, that I got out of the habit of making the shields big enough to include me," you explained. It was really annoying, especially when you were the strongest super on the team.

"Your uncle is an idiot," Loki replied dryly. Tony had messed with your instincts and training until you put yourself in danger.

"Agreed," you grumbled, twisting the stupid metal bangle around your wrist and imagining all of the fun ways you would destroy the damn thing the second you got it off again. You hated restraints, though you knew the tower kept a stock of them for villainous supers.

"See that you do not forget again to shield yourself first," Loki grumbled at you.

"I won't. I promise. One painful reminder is enough," you added. Your ribs and arm were still sore and bruised. Battlefield healing was not thorough at all. It was only meant to make sure the combatants could keep fighting until the battle was over. You glared at the metal bangle on your wrist while Loki drove. "Why did I let you do this again?" you asked him grumpily. You really hated being weak or helpless.

"Because I asked nicely, unlike your idiot uncle. You are also intelligent enough to realize that your idiot uncle and I are correct in the assessment that you are about to drop from exhaustion and overwork. You are also smart enough to admit that the healers will guilt you into helping them when you should be resting, because they take advantage of your kindness," he replied too logically. He was too flattering, but he was also right. You huffed and grumbled. You hated it, but he was right.

Why did he have to be right?

You soon pulled up to the residents' parking at the compound and went to go find your actor friends. It wasn't hard. They were all outside the tower, using the outside of the building for their filming. You were waved over and greeted with cheers when they crew saw you. You were amazed at how many people they had dressed as Loki and Sigyn. You spotted Tom in the crowd of Lokis and grabbed your Loki's hand so you wouldn't lose him before daring to aim that way.

"What's going on?" you asked Tom once you were close enough to him. You saw Kelly nearby, surrounded by all of the Sigyns.

"We're shooting a scene where we Loki is using illusions," Tom explained, indicating all of the doubles. "I thought you two would have fun with us," he added with a grin. Tom was too much like his character at times and had too much mischief about him. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Loki," he addressed the god, polite as ever.

Loki bowed in reply. "Likewise," he replied with a grin, excited for the bit of fun and mischief.

"How has the game of 'which one's Tom' gone so far?" you asked. Tom always loved that game.

Tom laughed. "Wonderfully. This was a terrible idea on their part,"

"Kat! Why aren't you answering your phone? Where are you? You're supposed to be resting!" you heard a roaring yell that was unmistakable as Uncle Tony's. You looked over at where the yelling was coming from. He was on his phone and obviously hadn't spotted you yet. You were glad you had turned your phone's ringer off. You made a mental note to delete that voice mail without listening to it.

"Shit," you cursed under your breath. "He's going to find us." You did not want Tony finding you yet.

Loki just grinned mischievously. "Not in this crowd, he won't," he whispered in your ear. He used illusions so your outfits appeared to match the costumes of the others. "Go blend in with the others. We'll hide in plain sight." you nodded and went over to the other Sigyns, standing so your back was to Tony. It was the only time you ever blended in because of your hair.

"What did you do?" you heard Tom ask Loki quietly, wondering why Tony was so upset with you both.

"Saved the lives of ten or so civilians," Loki replied dryly.

"Terrible offense that," Tom replied just as dry and sarcastically. You couldn't help chuckling and made a mental note to keep those two from being alone for too long. They really shouldn't be alone at all.

You got cast as extras for the scene, which is what Tom and Kelly thought would happen when they asked you to join them there today. They slipped you copies of their scripts too. You weren't supposed to speak, just be extras and stand with the other 'illusions' and look pretty. That got shot out the window once the crew realized who you and Loki really were.

Tony finally got smart enough to realize that you and Loki were possibly hiding among the actors. Unfortunately, he decided this while you were pretending to be Tom and Kelly and were the Loki and Sigyn acting out the scene. You tried so hard to keep a straight face while Tony started berating a Sigyn, who very much wasn't you.

"Sorry, I'm not Kat!" she told him with a grin. He growled and went to harass someone else.

"Why don't you run?" Kelly hissed in your ear, watching Tony patrol looking for you in the crowd.

"I can't. My powers are shot right now," you admitted. If it was anyone besides your friends, you wouldn't have dared say that you didn't have your powers. "I was hoping he wouldn't find us until he calmed down some. I should probably give yourself up before he gets too pissy,"

"Not yet. Go do the kiss scene first. I'll distract him for a little while," she told you reassuringly. She pushed you out to where they were getting ready for the kiss scene. You had the feeling that was the real scene they wanted you and Loki for.

Your costume was a halter dress, leaving both of your arms bare, and Loki's costume had short sleeves for this scene. They also really wanted the soulbond mark in their movie apparently and just didn't want to ask you outright to be in the movie. So the crew pretended they didn't know who you really were as they positioned you for the scene. You'd be quietly paid a large sum on the backend for your work. They thankfully didn't actually touch us and break Loki's illusions when Loki gave them the warning that you couldn't be touched.

You really didn't mind kissing your boyfriend for twenty minutes to get the kiss scene just right. That was an excellent use of your day. Loki seemed to mind oh so much too. They filmed you from every angle and it should have been embarrassing, but you had missed Loki so much that you were way more interested in kissing him than in the cameras trained on you.

After the scene Tony waded in and caused more trouble. He gathered up all of the Lokis and Sigyns, including yourself and the real Loki. You were doomed then, especially as he was still raging. "Kat, Loki, you can't hide forever," Tony growled. "Now which ones are you?" you were a little insulted he couldn't pick you out from all of the others.

"I am Loki!" Tom announced in his perfect Loki accent, stepping forward.

"I am Loki!" one of the extras announced, stepping forward as well. Tony growled when all of the Lokis, including yours, stepped forward to announce that they were Loki. It was hilarious and you had to fight not to laugh. Tony finally started thinking straight and turned to the group of Sigyns instead. You knew you were caught then. There was no way he wouldn't recognize his niece.

The girls tried pulling the same stunt for you, but it didn't work. The second he caught your eye, he knew. "Thanks for trying," you told them. Tony was so pissed that you were actually scared of him. You'd never been scared of him, but his anger was radiating off of him, and you didn't have your powers to defend yourself. You prayed that he would remember that before he did something stupid.

Like throw you through a wall again.

Tony grabbed your arm and dragged you from the group of Sigyns. The illusion on you vanished the moment he touched you. The actors wandered off to pretend to not be paying attention, and actually do the work they were being paid for. The game was over. "What were you thinking?" Tony demanded. "You're supposed to be resting!" he roared at you. You felt yourself shrink away from his roar, but you couldn't, wouldn't cower from him.

You straightened your spine and glared up at him.

"What were we supposed to do? Let those people die?" you demanded, reaching your other arm around to the small of your back where your enchanted dagger sheath was, just in case this conversation went poorly.

You wasn't defenseless.

Even without your powers, you weren't defenseless.

"Why were you even in that situation?" he roared back.

"We went out for breakfast and there was a car crash! We didn't plan it," you snarled at him. You couldn't control everything around you. That sadly wasn't one of your powers.

You saw his hand curl into a fist and acted before you could even think about it. You had a dagger drawn and held between us, in a defensive posture in an instant. You had practiced so much with the daggers that drawing one was instinct and effortless. You realized that right that, you didn't and couldn't trust Tony, not with the power between you so out of balance. Tony would never hurt you on a normal day, but his anger was out of control. His anger was created by fear for you, but it had still gone out of control.

Tony's eyes grew wide when he realized, when he realized he had really truly scared you. His anger evaporated at once. You had the feeling that might have been Loki's plan the entire time, to try to get Tony's anger under control before you had to deal with him. "Kat, I'm sorry," he said softly, letting you go. "I wouldn't. I swear I wouldn't-"

"You have before," you reminded him, taking a step back and moving your free arm to the sheath at your back. Just in case. He had hit you once before when his temper got the better of him. He hadn't meant it then either, and it was only because Loki was there that you had healed from that experience. It was before you had powers of your own.

"He will not again, darling," Loki said, stepping away from the actors. He had let you fight your own battle, since he knew that you could. He stepped between you and Tony, shielding you from your uncle. "You can put the dagger away, love. I'm quite sure your uncle would like to have a nice calm conversation about this morning with us inside," he suggested pleasantly.

"That's one of the first decent ideas you've had," Tony replied, trying desperately to sound calm and jovial, trying to ease your mind with his tone. You weren't entirely convinced, still on edge without your powers, but you sheathed the dagger anyway.

"Can I get a shower before you yell at us? I think I still have blood in my hair," you grumbled. You were still grungy and gross from battle and covered in cuts, scrapes, and a couple of ugly bruises. Loki had hidden them with illusions for playing with the actors.

"Fine," Tony grumbled. "But don't disappear. Hang out here today," he suggested. It wasn't really a suggestion, but he was trying to make it sound like it was.

"You're not going to yell?" you asked. Disappearing before he could yell sounded like a good idea.

"Just lecture. A little," Tony replied with a smile.

"I think you can handle that," you told him, trying to smile in return. It was hard, though.

You wrapped your arms around one of Loki's as the three of you walked into the compound. You needed the extra security of Loki's presence. You were feeling too unsteady without it. Part of it was exhaustion and part was your powers being bound. You really shouldn't have used all of that power earlier, but you couldn't have let those people die either. You and Loki headed up to the floor of the compound where your suites were. "I made sure they didn't touch your suite," you commented while you walked.

"Thank you for that," he replied and seemed pleased that his room hadn't changed. That his second home hadn't changed. Loki slowed and looked down at you. "Are you alright?" his voice was full of concern. You realized you were still holding onto his arm too tightly and loosened your grip, holding his hand instead, and not squeezing it hard enough to bruise.

"Sorry. I'm feeling off today." you admitted sheepishly.

He kissed the top of your head. "I know, darling. You will feel better once you get some actual rest," he insisted. He left you at the door to your suite, after checking the inside for intruders before you entered, so you could shower and change into clean clothes in peace.

His suite was just across the hall.

Loki was home. You both were. It felt strange after all this time, but it felt right at the same time.