The next couple of weeks were filled with more of the same, though more people began to talk to Loki as he gained their trust. He didn't seem to trust them back, though, and still spent most of his time with you. He especially stayed away from Dr. Banner. Most of the older Avengers didn't much like Loki because of the battle of New York, even if he had switched sides at the end of the fight. They had a hard time forgiving him for the things he'd done during the fight, despite that it was mind control. He and his brother Balder had both been in on bringing aliens to New York. Only Loki had switched sides. No one knew what happened to Balder after the fight.

You also realized that Loki was more open with you and formal to the point of coldness with almost everyone else. You'd have to help break him of that.

Friday morning after three weeks of Loki moving in, you had the day off of school for a three day weekend. You slept in for once, grateful for the opportunity to sleep in. You were surprised when you finally made it downstairs to find that Loki wasn't there. It was later than usual, but you had still expected him to be in the common room. He was always there. "Helene, do you know where Loki is this morning?" you asked her after you had eaten breakfast. She wouldn't have told you before she made sure you ate something. She was overprotective like that.

"Fury called him to do some work in the official wing," she told you. She would tell you things around here that no one else would.

You nodded and headed out that way to go surprise him. You figured he was doing some kind of training, or demonstration of his powers, something along those lines. You sat in on training sessions from time to time, and even played the part of the helpless victim for them occasionally, so it wasn't a shock for anyone to see you in this wing of the tower. You were surprised when you were directed to a small room at the end of an abandoned hall after you asked where you could find Loki.

You heard screaming from inside the room and ran to find out what was going on. It wasn't like you could do anything, but you had to try anyway. There were two guards outside, who weren't paying nearly enough attention. You shoved your way past them with no effort and into the room to find Loki tied to some kind of chair. One of the supers with lightning powers was electrocuting him. You stared in shock at the scene before you jumped into action. "What are you doing?!?!" you demanded with as much force and indignation as your 17 year old tiny powerless body could produce. One wouldn't think that was a lot of force, but you'd learned a lot about presenting yourself well from Uncle Tony, and had it down to a science.

You ran to Loki, putting your hands on him. They wouldn't shock Loki while they would shock you too. The electricity stopped before you could touch Loki.

Fury glared at you. "Get out of here, Kat," he ordered with a growl. You glared right back at him.

"What are you doing to him?" you demanded, outraged at Fury's behavior. "He hasn't hurt anyone since he's been here. What has he done to deserve this?" you snarled. You knew you were no match for Fury or any of the supers in the room, but you had to try anyway.

"This is an interrogation. Get out," Superior ordered again. You held on to Loki tighter. You should call for help, but you had to get Loki out of here and you were alone. "We need information on the plans of that brother of his."

"I'm sure he's told you everything he knows," you protested. "He's been nothing but helpful since he got here. You have no reason to doubt him."

"It is alright, Lady," Loki told you, his voice hoarse and weak. They had clearly been doing this to him for awhile. "You do not wish to witness this. I will be alright." He tried to sound stronger than he clearly was.

"Have you told them everything you know?" you asked him gently. This was the fasted way to get him out of here. He nodded. "There, he's told you everything. Let him go. Enough of this." You practically shouted at Fury.

"He's lying," Fury protested.

"He's not." you insisted with conviction. You managed to unbuckle the restraints holding Loki to the chair. "I would know, since I'm the only one who has been spending with him since he got here," you reminded them all. At least they had the sense to look ashamed. Fury didn't even argue when you got Loki free from the chair.

"It's on your head if he's hiding anything. Can you live with that? Do you trust him enough for that?" Fury demanded, treating you like one of the team for once. You were standing up to him like one of the team.

"I can live with that. At least I'm not torturing someone for information they obviously don't have," you shot back, sounding more like your uncle than you realized. You wrapped one of Loki's cool arms around you neck to haul him to his feet. You ducked your head under the chain between his wrists. It helped that he couldn't let you go when you did so. It took nearly all of your strength to manage it, but you got him to his feet and half dragged, half led him from the room. It took effort and he didn't much help you, too weak to help more than just not fighting you. "I am ashamed of all of you. This is something villains would do. Not heroes. Never heroes," you told all of the supers in the room. You helped Loki from the room and towards the living quarters. You didn't know how you managed it, but somehow you got up to his room. You opened his door, surprised he didn't lock it and managed to get him to his bed. "Are you ok?" you asked him softly, gently. He looked so hurt and bruised and you didn't know how to help him.

"Are you going to get in trouble?" he asked in reply, more concerned over you than himself. You shrugged.

"Possibly, but I'm right and they all know it. I'll talk to Uncle Tony and he'll get me out of any trouble that might've caused," you added. Tony could fix this.

"You should not have done that," he replied, worry in his tone.

You glared at him for even thinking that. "Yes. I should have. It's what any decent human should have done, and they had no right to do that to you. You're obviously injured. What can I do to help?" you changed the subject, needing to help him, to prove that not all humans were evil.

He fwumped back on the bed. "I just need to rest. I heal quickly," he paused, considering something. "Will you stay with me?" he asked softly, hesitantly. He had hesitated before making his request, as though he didn't believe you would.

You gave him a warm, gentle smile. "Of course, I'll stay and keep the big powerful god safe," you told him with a smirk. That earned you a soft chuckle. You sat down in a chair next to his bed and turned on his TV. Loki finally laid down and got some rest to heal. You spent that time carefully crafting a message to Tony to tell him what was going on.

About an hour later, there was a pounding on Loki's door. "Kat!? Are you in there?" Tony demanded. You sighed and got up to answer it.

"Shh, he's finally sleeping," you told Tony quietly when you opened the door. You were fully dressed, and Loki was tucked into his bed, finally sleeping soundly.

"What did you do to upset Fury?" Tony demanded. "It has to do with him," he gestured at the sleeping Loki. "Any why are you in here alone with him?"

"I stopped Fury from torturing him. They were 'interrogating'," you made the finger quotes "him for information he didn't have, or already gave them willingly. They were torturing him with lightning, Tony. I couldn't let them do that." you explained again with the emotions your text words couldn't contain. Tony looked shocked.

"No one would do that." Tony protested softly. He didn't want to believe it of the team, but he knew, he knew that you wouldn't lie to him, and he knew that people, even supers, would.

"I'm not lying Tony. I saw them." He didn't want to believe you, didn't want to believe the people he worked with could actually torture someone, but he didn't have a choice. You wouldn't lie to him and he knew it. Not about something this big anyway. "I'm sure he already told them everything he knew."

"I'll talk to Fury. He's trying to ground you for all of eternity for this stunt. And I'll make sure nothing like this ever happens again," he added with a growl.

"Please, Tony. Don't let them do this anymore. He doesn't know anything else." He nodded.

"I won't, but why are you here with him?" he asked, unhappy about that part as well. You understood that, even if you didn't like it since Loki hadn't done anything to hurt you.

"He didn't want to be alone while he recovered," you finally answered defensively. Nothing was going on. "I'm just keeping him company, from the chair," you gestured to the chair where you'd been camped out watching Loki's TV. Tony glared, but didn't argue. Barely. Because you wouldn't lie to him, but arguing with you would just open you up to hiding things from him.

"Just don't do anything stupid, and don't get into any more trouble today, ok?" he asked with a grin. He wasn't known for not being a troublemaker either. You smiled and gave him a nod, relaxing since he wasn't pressuring you. "You do have too big of a heart for your own good, you know. I'll get you off the hook and make sure they know that he doesn't know anything,"

"Thank you." He nodded curtly and handed you the dagger again before he went to go deal with Fury. You rolled your eyes and took it, laying it on Loki's nightstand when you resumed your seat.

"Remind me to show you how to use that, after they have decided I no longer need shackles," Loki told you softly from the bed without opening his eyes.

You smiled at him fondly. "You're supposed to be resting," you reminded him.

"Your uncle is loud," he murmured.

"He is," you agreed. "But he's gone now. Rest. I'll be here when you're well," you bid him gently. You stayed by his bed while he slept, a faint green glow surrounding him. You figured it was a healing spell, based on what you had experienced already. It was quite a few hours later before he woke again. "Hey sleepyhead, feeling better?" you asked him, gently.

He sat up, looking slightly confused. He nodded though when his head seemed to clear. "I am. Thank you for staying with me," he told me.

"It was no trouble,"

There was a knock on the door and you went to go see who it was this time. It was Tony again. At least he seemed calmer this time. "You're grounded for a week," he told you. You breathed a sigh of relief. The punishment for that stunt could've been a lot worse. "No leaving the compound except for school," you nodded your understanding. "But Fury admitted that you were right and his actions were unfitting of a hero. He still can't let you get away with disobeying him without some kind of punishment." You knew all of this, but you figured he was explaining it for Loki's benefit, since Loki had left his bed and was standing behind you. Tony looked past you to Loki and held up a large chunky bracelet to show him. "Superior said you've earned this,"

"What's that?" you asked before Loki could.

"It replaces the chains," Tony explained. Loki held out his wrists and Tony removed the chains, replacing the shackles with the one locking bracelet thing instead. "It limits his powers. I made it, so you can be damn sure it works. It will allow you to use your powers, but not to harm anyone. Except on missions and patrol. We'll go in to more details on that later. For now, just know that you've earned the promotion," Tony told Loki, who nodded. Tony's words were stiff, he still disliked Loki from the battle, but even he had to admit that Loki wasn't evil. Tony turned to you. "Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you go claim us a table. I'll eat with you before I have to go on patrol," you nodded.

"Will you be ok?" you asked Loki.

He inclined his head. "I am well," he replied warmly, he seemed glad that you cared. "Go get your dinner." He gestured for you to leave. You hoped he would survive the 'don't hurt my niece' speech he was about to receive from Tony.

You went downstairs right as Helene had finished making your plate. You took it to your usual table and waited for Tony to come join you. He did so and chatted with you about everyday, trying to make this a normal evening dinner. "All of us are going out on patrol again tonight. Loki will be here with you again. It's his assignment for the time being,"

"We'll be fine, Tony," you told him, rolling your eyes. He worried too much.

"Just be careful," he replied. You rolled your eyes again, but nodded and cleared the dishes, since he had to go on patrol and had to get ready. Before he left, he handed you the dagger again. "Please stop leaving this around haphazardly," he grumbled at you, wanting you defended. You laughed and saw him and his team to the door, bidding them a safe patrol.

When you turned from the door you saw Loki behind you. "Would you like to get started on lessons on how to use that?" he indicated the dagger in your hand.

"You know how?"

He nodded. "I was trained in many fighting arts. The dagger is my weapon of choice, besides magic of course."

"Of course," you replied with a grin. "Let's get started then."

For the first lesson, he didn't take you to a full training room. He was mostly showing you how to stand and how to hold the dagger correctly. He showed you a couple of basic blocks and attacks with the dagger and you practiced those for about an hour before you both grew too tired of the exercise. You had a feeling he only claimed to be tired to spare your feelings. You were human and hadn't done any kind of exercise before attempting dagger lessons. You were a book nerd after all.

After that, you returned to your customary ends of the couch to read while the news was on in the background. "Sorry we have to wait another week before we can go see the latest superhero movie," you told him apologetically. You had promised to take him to see it once he was free of the chains.

"I'm sure it will be just as good next week as it would have been this week," he told you dryly.

"Yes, but it's still my fault that you can't see it this week," you felt bad for getting grounded and ruining the plan.

"By saving me from unnecessary torture. I will gladly take the week delay to avoid more electricity," his tone was still dry.

"Are you sure you're ok now?" you asked him, concerned. They had really hurt him earlier.

"Yes, Lady. Do not worry over me. You forget that we heal quickly, and I heal more quickly than most," he still sounded pleased that you cared. You nodded and returned to your book. You had finished the first book of tales Loki had lent you and had moved on to more difficult stories from Asgard. He had taken care to use illusion spells so you could read them. At least he would be able to do so openly now.

The teams were out a lot later than you thought they would be. You felt your eyelids growing heavier and heavier as you tried to concentrate on the book, and then on the news when the book got too difficult. It was 2 or 3 in the morning.

You were only half conscious when you noticed the strong, muscled, cool arms lifting you from the couch and cradling you against an equally cool body, your head rested on their shoulder.

You stirred a little at being moved, at hearing loud, laughing, drunk sounding male voices. "The Triad has returned, but your uncle has not yet. It does not feel safe for you to be down here." The Triad were three huge hulking brutes of superheroes who had powers in fire, water, and earth. They were all over 21 and often came back drunk after their patrols. You only had any trust of them because they were superheroes. You didn't blame Loki for wanting you out of that situation. He didn't trust them with your safety. "Shh, love, you're safe," Loki whispered as he carried you upstairs. You were soothed back into near unconsciousness by his words and accent. You vaguely recalled him tucking you into your bed. "Goodnight, darling, sleep well." You thought you felt a kiss on your forehead before sleep claimed you.