I made sure to not push myself too hard like Loki said, because, I would never admit it, but my body was still trying to catch up on all of the fitful sleep I had while waiting for Loki to wake up. The training did definitely help to take my mind off it all though.

"Hey Emily." Tony spoke up pretty much as soon as I stepped back into the compound, Loki next to me as I prepared to take a shower back in my room. "When you're ready, do you mind if we have a talk?"

I nodded, flashing him a small smile as my heart stuttered slightly. I knew he would want to be talking about HYDRA. I knew this conversation was going to come at some point, but that didn't mean it was going to be any more pleasant.

"It'll be okay." Loki murmured softly as his hand gently rubbed over my back as we began to walk up to the stairs to my room. "You don't have to talk with him if you don't want to."

"Its for my safety and everyone else's if I do." I sighed, opening up my door and stepping inside, letting him shut it quietly behind him.

"Do you want me to at least be there with you?" He leaned against the wall, arms crossed as I pulled fresh clothes out of my cupboard.

"I think I want to do it myself." I replied after a couple of moments of hesitation. "I mean, its just Tony. The worst he can do it get upset at me or something like that."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." He raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't have to be facing that by yourself."

"But I don't also need to be hiding behind people from the slightest uncomfortable moment." I sighed again and turned around to look at him, fresh clothes bundled up in my arms. "I appreciate you looking out for me, but I want to feel like I can do somethings for myself at times."

"Very well." He gave me a small smile. "But at least let me walk you down to his office. And I'll be waiting outside the whole time."

"Fine." I relented with a small smile on my face. "Let me have a quick shower."

I disappeared into the bathroom and quickly peeled off my training clothes, stepping under the warm water to wash away the sweat sparkling my skin. My panic threatened to get out of control from where it was churning in my stomach, but I kept pushing it down, repeatedly telling myself that it was just Tony.

Loki kept his word and stayed outside of Tony's office, not before giving me a comforting kiss on my head. Tony already sitting at his desk and I swallowed thickly, a little put off by how serious he looked, but then I registered his feet propped up on the desk.

"Don't look so worried Em." He chuckled, waving away the bunch of projections he had been flicking through, revealing a relaxed grin on his face. "I don't want to stress you out. Just sit down and relax."

I nodded and put a small, unsteady smile on my face as I sunk down in one of the arm chairs on the opposite side of his desk. He hastily swept away some of the papers scattering the top of the desk and pulled his chair closer as he swung his feet off.

"How are you going?" He began, folding his hands on the desk as he looked over me.

"I'm okay." I shrugged, trying to relax my body a little as I fiddled with the rough fabric of the armchair. "I mean, I'm a little tired still, but its better now that Loki has woken up."

"You know what if you're ever struggling with anything and he's not there, you can come to me, right?" His expression turned a little more serious and I nodded, my smile fading a little too. "We all do care for you Em and its hard when we see you in such pain like you were the other day. And I'm not trying to guilt trip you into talking about it or anything, I'm just telling you the truth."

I nodded and looked away, the eye contact becoming too unnerving and uncomfortable.

"I know you probably don't want to be having this conversation either." He continued as I fiddled with my clothes. "But its for your safety. I need to know what happened to you and Loki."

I hesitated for a moment before I took a deep breath and slowly began to recount the story. I left out some of the extra details, only outlining that we were grabbing some food and were going to teleport back when HYDRA found us. I sometimes had the courage to look up at him as I talked, but it didn't last for long. He didn't say anything the whole time when we talked, just watching me steadily. When I eventually finished, a silence filled the room and I slowly looked back up at him.

"You know you can't be going outside of the compound Em." He said eventually, his tone soft.

"I know." My throat tightened a little, even though he wasn't really telling me off.

"Even if you have Loki." He continued. "Even if you have all of us there, HYDRA are determined bastards. They will stop at nothing to get you and they spent so much work and effort on you, they're not going to just give up."

"I don't want to be stuck in the compound forever though." I wrapped my eyes tightly around myself. "I loved going outside."

"Let us deal with HYDRA and once they are no longer a threat, you can go back outside." He promised.

"I don't want to risk you all putting yourselves in danger." I shook my head almost immediately but he held up a hand softly.

"Em, you know you can't convince me otherwise." He grinned. "We're not going to let HYDRA keep hassling you. And its not like we haven't not gone up against them before. We know we can defeat them. And we will. I know we can."

"But they're so dangerous." I hated how weak my voice had gone, but any thought of HYDRA always reduced me to this pathetic mess.

"And so are we." His voice softened a little. "I promise you we can defeat them. So don't keep worrying yourself, you'll get wrinkles."

I huffed out a small laugh and my eyes flicked back up to him as I unwrinkled my eyebrows.

"Thank you Tony." I murmured, taking a deep breath to try and draw my emotions back in.

"Its okay kiddo." He grinned back. "See? That conversation wasn't that bad."

"It wasn't." I admitted with a small smile.

"Now its up to you if you want to talk about Loki." He didn't seem to hesitate at the sudden topic change and my eyes flicked to him sharply.

"What about him?" I asked, somewhat warily, but I had an inkling that I already knew what he was talking about.

"How is he treating you Em?" He asked it without a pause and my heart stuttered slightly. I loved Tony, but he was the last person I wanted to be having this conversation with.

"He's been nice." I said slowly, knowing I had to say something or he would start assuming. "He's really kind and sweet."

"I know Loki is a good guy to the right people." He nodded, leaning back in his chair. "But I know that he is still a guy. Not that I'm making assumptions, but I want you to come straight to me if he ever hurts you, physically or emotionally."

"He wouldn't do that." I murmured, giving him a look.

"I know." He relented. "But nobody is perfect together, there are always ups and down. And I want to be that person you'll come too whenever you're having issues with him. I'll kick his ass."

"He's way taller than you." I huffed out a weak laugh. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"It's the idea that countskiddo." He grinned, putting a hand on his chest in mock offence.