“No.” “It’s necessary.” “I’m not doing this!” “Drop the dagger.” “Absolutely not.” “It does not hurt.” “I’m not afraid of pain, Stark. It’s humiliating.” I sit on a table in Bruce’s Lab, leaning against the broad shoulders of Steve, feet dangling in the air, and watch the scene in front of me.

In the centre of the room stands Loki. His hair is slightly messy, and there’s a murderous expression on his face. He’s holding a dagger threateningly in front of himself, and his eyes are shooting knives at Tony who’s pinching the bridge of his nose.

Next to me, Bruce shifts in his seat, his shoulders tense in unease at the sight of the two in front of us. Tony’s suit is halfway built up around his body, the repulsors in his gloves ready to blast the angry god away.

“Popcorn?” Peter smiles at me and offers me a bowl. I instantly start munching on the white stuff, earning a disapproving glance from Steve. I smile at him innocently and offer him some of my popcorn.

He rolls his eyes but grabs a handful. A smile slips over his face, and I see Peter winking at me. I blush and frantically shake my head. He only giggles and suggestively wriggles his eyebrows.

Before the situation can get worse, Tony interferes. “Gimme that.” He demands. The bowl filled with sweet popcorn (Sorry for this, but salty popcorn is literally a crime. No offence, though. Everyone can eat popcorn the way they want) is suddenly taken from my hands, and before I can even protest, he has already turned back to Loki.

“Look, Horns, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. Let’s get this over with and let Bruce put the tracker on.” Tony’s annoyed voice is a little muffled due to the popcorn in his mouth. 

“I’m a prince, not your pet, you dull creature!” Unbothered by the fury in the god’s eyes, Tony motions for the six shield agents to grab Loki, but suddenly he has a second dagger in his hands. “Don’t you dare touch me!” He yells. 

I’m shocked by the pure hatred that radiates off him and makes my head throb. That’s not the Loki I know. His ice-blue eyes seem to glow, and there’s no hint of kindness or the familiar spark of playfulness in them. Only hate and anger.

Next to me, Bruce straightens his back and raises his hand in an attempt to get some attention. “What about we find a compromise?” He asks. His hands are fiddling with his glasses. Loki and Tony react at the same time. “No!”

Bruce slumps back, and I pat his shoulder. “You should have foreseen that reaction.” I whisper to him. Suddenly, Clint speaks up. “Actually, that seems like a pretty good idea. Why not try finding another solution? It can not be the only way to inject someone with a tracker!”

“Hmm.” Natasha furrows her brows. “Isn’t Thor going to come for a few weeks?” Loki groans. “Not that oaf.” He dramatically rolls his eyes.

“He could help us watch over him. Additionally, we could use Friday to tell us about abnormal activities such as energy increasing et cetera.” Natasha suggests. Loki lowers his daggers a little and seems to think while Tony doesn’t look convinced.

“I could arrange some of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s special handcuffs. They’re like two thin bracelets that shouldn’t bother much, but when you leave a certain area, they activate and lock together due to magnetism and send a signal straight to us.” Fury offers.

I can feel the inner debate Tony is having, and judging by the look on his face he’s finally convinced that it’s not necessary to implant Loki a tracker. 

It takes Fury only half an hour to hand me a pair of thin silver bracelets. I hesitantly knock on the door of Loki’s room. I’m met with an annoyed Loki who quickly pulls me into his room and shuts the door before continuing to examine the details of the room Tony assigned to the god.

There’s a giant window almost covering the whole wall, which grants a pretty similar view as the window in my quarter, which makes me assume that our quarters are on the same side of the tower.

The rest is also pretty similar to my apartment. Armchair, sofa, bookshelf- Tony could at least show a little creativity. "Y/n?" He asks, seating himself in the armchair and crossing his legs. I hum in response.

"Make yourself comfortable." He offers and motions for the sofa, but when I don't move from my position, he finally looks up and finds my look of discomfort. A frown is plastered onto my face, and my lips are pressed together into a thin line. And, of course, he interprets it the wrong way.

"Darling? Is everything alright? I didn't scare you, did I?" A flash of concern washes over his face but didn't last long when I shake my head. Slowly pulling my hands out of the pocket of my hoodie, I hold up the two thin silver bracelets from Fury. "I'm sorry."

His face falls. He looks defeated. "It's not forever." I quickly add, trying not to make the whole situation worse for him. He sighs deeply before getting off his armchair and stretching his limbs, and taking a few steps toward me.

I take a step back - I haven't forgotten his demeanour in the lab earlier - and instantly regret it. Judging by the painful look on his face, he hasn't forgotten either. I force myself to take two steps toward him.

"It's an acceptable solution," He pauses and sighs again, then slowly holds out his wrists, "If it is only temporarily." My relief is endless that he is cooperating.

I've had dozens of scenarios in my head about how Loki would react, and to be honest, I had everything from simple rejection over trashing his whole room in anger to smashing the whole tower.

I take the last step towards him and raise my hands to put the cuffs on, but pull back before the metal can make contact with his skin. He tilts his head at me, smirking slightly, but I can feel that he is confused. "They.." I stop and clear my throat, "They'll bind your magic."

"What?" He takes a step back, but I follow him. Now, he'll understand my look of discomfort a few moments prior. "Come on, Loki. Please." I beg him, but he doesn't move. "They'll bind my magic?" He asks again, suddenly rather resembling a child than a god.

"Listen," I tell him, and to my surprise, he remains quiet. "Yes, they'll bind your magic but not all of your magic. Your space pocket thingy, part of your telepathy ability, and your levitation stuff won't be blocked."

"Will I get my other powers back?" He asks, and I understand his desperate demeanour. Your powers are part of yourself, and when you can not use them, it's like a missing arm or leg. You'll learn to live without it, but it'll never be the same again.

"Definitely," I assure him. "Just behave, and you'll get them back one by one. Just understand us. You attacked New York and killed dozens of innocent people, and we still don't know why." He talks so quietly that I almost miss his next words. "That was not me."

What? Did I hear that right? Well, I think that should be discussed with the others later. "You'll get your powers back if you prove yourself worthy." I declare and smile at how that sounds slightly poetic. "Okay."

There's nothing in this world big enough to compare my relief with. This single word from Loki saved me from a lot of trouble. A dark chuckle sends a smile spreading across my tensed-up face.

I take the last step towards Loki and hold up the thin cuffs, waiting for him to offer me his wrists. He's hesitant. His eyes are darting around as if looking for another solution, but finally, he gives in, offering me his wrists, waiting for me to finish my task.

Suddenly, I pull back, frowning and looking into a far corner of the room. There's something. I concentrate and then sigh. "Loki, no illusions. Please." "Well, It was worth a try." The Loki in front of me disappears in a green mist, and the real Loki walks toward me, only a half-hearted smile on his lips.

I concentrate again, but this time, I can feel the very faint sensation of his mind right in front of me. No illusions. Good. I can't stop myself from thinking about how different his mind feels. Like he's shielding it from me.

The rest of the team is way much easier to read. They always radiate some sort of emotion, but from Loki,  there's mostly nothing. Only strong emotions that accidentally slip through his barriers reach me.

Deciding to think about that later, I take finally take his wrist and clasp the first cuff around. I watch in amazement as it slips into the right place and secures itself. "How does it feel?" I ask nervously and try to find any sort of emotion.

"It's surprisingly comfortable." He answers, slightly surprised. "I don't feel it. Put on the other one." Doing as he asked, I slip on the other cuff. In the process, my fingers accidentally brush over the back of his hand, sending a soft tingle up my arm.

My eyes widen, and I quickly pull back my hand, shoving it back into my beloved hoodie as I watch the cuff secure itself once again. I'm about to turn when I see Loki flinch and then tense up. The colour leaves his face, and I swear, the temperature slightly drops when he takes a quick step toward me. "Take them off!" He demands.

"Do it!" He yells, towering above me when I don't react instantly. Without thinking, I deactivate them but leave them on, and he doesn't seem to mind at all. The colour returns to his face. "My shape-shifting ability." He demands. "I want it back."

"You can't -" He interrupts me. "I need them. Tell Stark I can not go anywhere with those things either, whether I can shapeshift or not." Well, to be honest, he has a point.

I call Tony, explaining the situation and Loki's rather harsh request. After a few minutes of convincing, I have him. "Gimme a second." I smile at the dark-haired god and watch the thin metal that is still on his hands until a blue light flashes. I activate them again and study Loki's face, but this time, he seems fine.

"That's it. See you later." Turning around and heading for the door, Loki again catches my attention by grabbing my shoulder and spinning me around. "Y/n." He calls. His eyes look at me pleadingly. "I didn't intend on shouting at you. My apologies."

I slightly nod. "It's okay." "I hope so. This is a way better option than an implanted tracker." He offers me a smile, but I can't return it. "If only we always had a choice..." My mumbled words come out before I can stop them.

His eyes narrow, and a frown appears on his face. When I see his mouth open to say something, I quickly rush out of the door. "See you for lunch." With that, I accidentally slam the door shut and run to my room to bury my head in my pillow. Why the hell did I say that?!