Truth be told, Loki was dreading going back to the tower. He wished that he and his friends could leave now, but he knew they'd need at least a few days to prepare.

He didn't know why, though, but the idea of running away seemed to leave a slight ache in his heart. Loki definitely wanted out of here, there was no doubt about that, but he felt as if he was leaving something he cared about behind.

What could I possibly care for here? Everyone treats me like shit. To be fair, there were some parts of the Avengers he liked.

Being able to save people wasn't all that bad, even when he was rarely allowed on missions. He did feel some guilt for his actions during the attack on New York, and being able to save lives was like a way to relieve himself of that guilt.

Though they barely let me save lives anyways, so what's the point?

Peter Parker wasn't that bad either. In fact, Loki kind of enjoyed his company. He was the only person to not immediately mad at him, or afraid of him, for what he'd done.

But he has other friends, Loki thought with a sigh. He wouldn't need me anyways.

Pietro and Wanda were also ok. They didn't seem to care much about him. Although I could definitely do without that speedy little shit in my life.

Everyone else made his life a living hell. No matter what he did to prove himself, they kept being harsh on him.

Loki sighed as he thought about Katie. At least before their argument earlier, he saw her as at least a friend. Even when she was annoying to him, he thought she at least trusted her.

I was wrong about her. Why does that hurt so much?

And then there was his brother, Thor. He was the reason Loki was here in the first place. Despite wanting him to become an Avenger, Thor had done absolutely nothing to help him earn the trust of everyone else.

A part of Loki felt betrayed by that. He thought that after Ragnarok, he could truly look up to Thor as a brother. But Thor hadn't done shit to prove to the Avengers that Loki could be trusted.

I definitely won't miss him.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, Loki found the Avengers gathered in the living room. They turned to look at him. Loki froze, suddenly feeling as if a spotlight had been put on him.

"Am I... interrupting something?" he asked awkwardly, wanting nothing more than to run to his room and never come out. Tony just motioned for him to sit down. Loki walked over nervously and sat down on the couch.

"Katie told us about your little outbreak earlier," Steve began, "and that you've been sneaking off."

I take back all fucking respect I ever had for Katie in my damn life, Loki decided. He looked over at Katie, who just stared at him with an unreadable look in her eyes.

Loki just shook his head. I'm leaving, anyways. What's there left to lose here? "Look, I can explain-"

"You know what? Save it," Tony hissed. "You claim you're suddenly all trustworthy now, and then you sneak out of the tower behind our backs with our damn food?"

"I- Well I was going to explain my actions, but now I don't see much need to," Loki said, crossing his arms. Tony glared at him.

"If you have some reason to leave the tower, we at least need to know where you're going," Natasha said.

"It's personal, alright?" Loki said.

"Personal?" Clint growled. "You're stealing our food and sneaking out and your only excuse is it's 'personal?!"

"What, so I just have to tell you every little thing about my life now?" Loki hissed.

"That's kinda the point, yeah," Natasha said.

"Oh please, this is all pointless," Wanda said, smirking. "He's probably just seeing some girl."

And I've lost all respect for Wanda!

"That's- That's not- No," Loki said, quickly shaking his head.

"So then where are you sneaking off to?!" Clint hissed.

Loki sighed quietly. He wanted to tell them about Peg and her friends, just so he wouldn't have to deal with all these questions anymore. I have to respect Peg's wishes, he remembered. Besides, I'm leaving this shithole anyways. What is there left to lose?

"You know, I find it funny that you make me have to earn your trust," Loki began, "when honestly I don't think I can even trust any of you. Every move I make is questioned by all of you. Even when I try to show that I've changed, you continue forcing every little thing out of me."

"Loki, you know perfectly well why we have to do this," Tony said. "Because you-"

"Because I killed people?" Loki finished. "Says, Stark? Says Tony Stark?"

"Loki, we've all been trying to give you a chance," Steve said sternly. "You're the one who keeps making it hard for us to trust you."

"What have I done up until now, Rogers?" Loki asked. "What else have I since the time Thor brought me here to make you not trust me?" Steve went quiet.

"Fucking hell," Clint hissed. "I told you guys! This is exactly why I said we should've locked him up the second Thor brought him here." Loki shot a glare at him.

"Brother, we're just worried for you," Thor tried to say.

"No. You're worried about me," Loki hissed. "The rest of them could care less about me!"

"Uh," Peter mumbled. "I-I care-" Tony looked at him warningly, and Peter quickly shut up. Loki rolled his eyes.

"If you cared about me, you wouldn't treat me like shit every day of my life," he said. "You don't care about me, you only care about what I might do."

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Loki huffed as he looked around the room. Steve seemed like he was actually thinking about what Loki had said. Clint and Tony looked pissed, as always. Katie still had an emotionless look like she was possessed. Wanda and Pietro seemed entertained by the argument, as if they didn't have a clue about what was actually going on and were just there for the drama.

"If you want us to trust you, you can't be keeping secrets and lying to us," Bruce said simply.

"But you can keep secrets and lie to me?" Loki growled. "Because I'm sure all of you have done that at least once!"

"We're supposed to be a team..." Katie muttered softly. Loki turned to look at her. "All I said was that Loki's been leaving the tower everyday, and suddenly we're all arguing over this dumbass shit."

"Katie, look-" Steve tried to say, though he was quickly interrupted.

"Don't 'Katie look' me!" she hissed. "None of you are being the better person here!" She glared at Loki. "You keep sneaking around and making yourself look suspicious," then at the others, "and you all were ignoring the fact that maybe he's actually right." Loki's eyes widened slightly. "None of us have been fair to Loki," Katie said softly. She glanced back at him. "That still doesn't give you the right to be a spoiled asshole!"

Loki looked down. I hated her, he thought. Katie was one of the reasons I wanted to leave, and now she's defending me... He shook his head slightly. I've made up my mind, though. I can't disappoint Peg and her friends. But, something about this plan is starting to feel wrong.

Bucky placed his hand on Katie's shoulder. "I agree with Katie," he said. Loki rolled his eyes again, knowing the only reason Bucky was agreeing with Katie was because, well, she's Katie.

"I agree as well," Thor said softly. "I have not been fair to my brother." He looked up at Loki. "I... I'm sorry, Loki."

Loki's heart hurt. It hurt bad. He wanted to run out of the room and never return. He couldn't handle this.

"ALERT! ALERT!" FRIDAY's voice suddenly boomed. Loki jumped at the sound. "HYDRA IS CURRENTLY ATTACKING THE CITY. I REPEAT, HYDRA IS CURRENTLY ATTACKING THE CITY."

"Shit!" Tony hissed and quickly got up.

"What?" Pietro said. "I thought we got rid of Hydra!"

"Guess they came back," Steve said with a shrug. Loki frowned slightly. He didn't know that much about Hydra, only that they could be a pain in the ass.

"Doesn't matter," Tony said. "Suit up, guys! We have to get out there and stop them."

Figuring he'd be needed in the battle, Loki used his magic to change into his suit. Tony glanced at him.

"Uh, Loki, maybe you should sit this one out," he said.

Oh fuck you.

"No," Loki said sternly. "The city is being attacked and I want to help stop them."

"Wow. That's new," Clint commented. Loki glared at him.

"What did I just say about treating him fairly?" Katie said. "Let him do this."

Tony sighed. "Don't do anything stupid," he said before walking off. Loki smiled softly and turned to find Katie, but by then she was already walking away.

"K-Katie!" he called out, running over to her. Katie turned around.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Why-.. why are you defending me?" Loki asked. "I yelled at you this, morning, and this whole thing was my fault in the first place."

Katie shrugged. "Just, hearing everything you said, I guess I realized that we have been a bit hard on you," she said. "It still doesn't mean you're not an asshole, but maybe we weren't being the nicest of people either."

Loki smiled softly. "Thank you, Katie," he said.

"No problem, Snake," Katie said, nudging his arm softly. Loki chuckled softly and watched her leave to get ready, when he suddenly remembered with a pang of guilt his plan to run away from the Avengers.

I can't do this now, not when they're finally starting to give me a chance, he realized. But maybe, if I can't leave with Peg and her friends, I can bring them here.

◇◇◇

All throughout the time it had taken for the Avengers to arrive at the attack, Loki had been thinking about asking his friends to join the Avengers.

It made him feel selfish, since they were all looking forward to leaving the city with him, but he figured it wouldn't be that bad if they could stay with him.

The tower is a better place for them anyways, he decided. I just hope the Avengers accept them... and then I'd have to tell them where the kids even came from in the first place.

As soon as the Quinjet landed in the area of the attack, the Avengers stormed into battle. Oddly enough, the Hydra agents didn't seem that surprised to see them. Loki didn't care. He summoned a dagger in his hand and started stabbing every agent in sight.

Loki glanced around and saw Katie wrestling against of the Hydra agents. However, his eyes widened when he saw another agent pointing a gun at her. Quickly, Loki threw himself at Katie and knocked them both out of the way, barely missing the bullet.

Katie glared up at the Hydra agent and used her telekinetic powers to knock him away. "Thanks, Snake," she said to Loki.

"Would you stop calling me that?" Loki said. Katie smirked.

"Nah," she said. "I like Thor's snake story too much." Loki rolled his eyes, but smiled at her.

"Katie!" Loki looked up as Bucky rushed over to them. He helped Katie up. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Some asshole tried to shoot me," Katie said with a shrug. "I'm fine. Got saved by Antlers."

"Pick a name and stick with it!" Loki complained. Bucky chuckled softly.

"Uh, guys?" Natasha said through their earpieces. "Is anyone seeing a line of fire?"

"I- What?" Bucky asked. Loki turned around, then managed to see a small fire in the distance. It was indeed moving in a straight line.

"I think she might be talking about that," he said, pointing to the fire.

"There's another one over there," Bucky said.

"But, the only fire can travel like that is.. gunpowder," Katie said.

"Wait, what?" Bucky asked. "What the hell are they using gunpowder for?"

Loki started to feel uneasy. Something was definitely going on.

Suddenly, Katie brought her fingers to her earpiece and screamed, "AVENGERS! LOOK OUT!"

And then everything around them went up in flames.

Loki was knocked to the ground, his ears ringing. Thankfully, they weren't caught in any of the explosions, but they were sure as hell close to one.

Loki opened his eyes and looked around. There was fire everywhere, and his vision was hazy. He looked over and saw Katie making sure Bucky was ok.

He coughed slightly, but managed to stand up. Loki stared out at the destruction before realizing with a sudden pang of horror: Peg's house must have been caught in one of the explosions.