Shadow

I rolled over in my bed and glared at my alarm clock that read twelve thirty at night. I let out a sigh as the knocks that had woken me up came again at the door. I rolled off my bed, rubbing my eyes and opened the door.

"Loki?" I asked leaning against the door, yawning. "What-what are you doing up?" He didn't say anything, he just looked up at me like a child who had done something wrong. That's when I noticed the faint tear tracks on his cheeks. "Come in," I said moving away from the door. He walked through the door and I quickly shut it. I gently took his arm and lead him over to the kitchen. "Sit," I said walking around the island and grabbing two coffee mugs out of the cabinet and making some hot chocolate. I handed him my mustache cup as I sipped out of my sponge bob one. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Loki's hands clipped around the cup but he didn't drink it. "It was just a dream," he muttered before taking a drink.

"Dreams aren't something to ignore, Loki," I said leaning across the island. "Tell me."

"It-it was a memory dream," I nodded, understanding, "about the day I was found out I was adopted." He stopped looking at his drink. "I'm a Frost Giant," he muttered. "A monster. The very thing Thor wished to destroy one day."

"Thor didn't know," I whispered. "Thor loves you, Loki. You are his brother, he would never kill you."

"But he lied," he hissed at me. "They all did! No one ever told me! I had to figure it out myself!I was nothing more than another stolen relic my 'father' collected," he spat. I could see the tears forming in his eyes.

"Loki Odinson," I said quietly. "It says right there. You are Odin's son. He loved you enough to give you his name. A home. To treat you like a Prince of Asgard. Your father loved you, Loki. And he always will." Loki gave me a look of doubt. "You still alive kind of proves that point. If he really didn't care, I'm sure you would have been sentenced to death, right?" Loki looked down, thinking over what I had just said. "Alright," I grabbed his empty mug from him and put it in the sink. "Come on," I said taking his arm and pulling him to the couch. "Lay down and sleep. You look like you need it."

"Emily," Loki said as he laid down. "Thank you." I could see a few tears on his cheeks. Sighing I sat down on the arm of the couch and ran my fingers through Loki's hair. "Mom use to do that," Loki stated looking at the ceiling.

"Do you miss her?" I asked quietly. He nodded, closing his eyes.

We didn't say anything more. I sat with him, my fingers playing with his hair, until he was sound asleep. I quietly got up and slipped out of my room. I walked through the halls and up the stairs of the tower until I found what I was looking for. A balcony. I walked out into the cold night air and looked down at the glowing city. Goose bumps covered my arms as a breeze drifted over the balcony walls. I rubbed my arms and gave a small shudder but didn't move.

"Cold?"

I looked over at Steve and smiled. "A little."

"Here," he handed over his leather jacket and I smiled.

"Why do you have this with you anyway?" I chuckled, "You looked kind of silly in you're pajamas and leather jacket."

He gave me a smile, "I knew it was going to be cold." I rolled my eyes at him and tugged the coat around my shoulders. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"I need some air after comforting an evil Norse God," I sighed with a small laugh. Steve raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Honestly? I haven't slept since I woke up," Steve said putting his hands on the balcony railing.

Sighing I grabbed his arm, "Come with me, Soldier boy. I'll get you to fall asleep." Steve followed me back down to my room. "We've gotta be quiet, Loki's asleep on the couch." Steve nodded and I lead him into the kitchen. I grabbed a new cup for Steve, which happened to be a Captain America cup, and made some more hot chocolate.

"Nice cup," he said looking at the cup I gave him full of hot chocolate.

"What can I say? I'm a Cap fan," I smirked taking a sip of my drink. He chuckled and took a sip of his drink. "So," I said placing my cup on the counter. Steve looked up at me. "I've seen your compass. The woman. Who is she?"

Steve set his cup down, "Her name was Peggy."

"She's beautiful," I commented remembering the picture.

Steve gave a small smile, "Yeah, she was." He was quiet a moment. "We had a date. And I missed it," he rubbed his hands on his cup. "She was going to teach me how to dance."

I smiled, "The handsome Captain America doesn't know how to dance?"

Steve chuckled, "Yeah. I wasn't the smoothest with dames-I mean women." I raised an eyebrow. "Your self-esteem isn't very high when most of the women you met were taller than you."

I laughed, "And now look at you." I pinched his cheek, "All tall and handsome and such." He blushed and looked down. "Did you love her?"

Steve swallowed, "I don't know. In time I might have. But I guess...she just wasn't the dance partner I was waiting for."

"Okay," I said taking his cup from him. "Time to lay down." I took his hand and pulled him from the kitchen, through the living room, where Loki was curled up and snoring softly, and into my room. I sat down, my back against my head board, "Come lay down." Steve was hesitant but laid down next to me. I pulled his head onto my lap and began to run my fingers through his hair. "Tell me more," I whispered.

"What is there to tell?" he sighed. "You can read about most of it in history books."

I tugged at his hair, "Tell me about your drawings."

"You know about those?" he asked looking up at me.

"I have them, something Agent Coulson would have very much enjoyed. I was hoping someday I'd met him but-" I paused. "You can have them back if you'd like. You're an amazing drawer, Steve."

"How did you get them?" He asked.

"My father liked to keep the things he found," I smiled. "The one of Peggy is there too."

"She didn't know I was drawing her," Steve smiled at the memory. "It was going to be a gift," his face fell and I gently rubbed his arm.

"She would've loved it," I whispered seeing his eyes close, I knew he was going to fall asleep. "I know I would have."

Steve sighed and I knew he was asleep. I rubbed his arm and ran my fingers through his hair a bit longer, till I too fell asleep.

******

I woke up to someone tapping me I turned my head and blinked a few times to see that it was Loki. "Loki?" I murmured rubbing my eyes, "What are you doing?" He didn't say anything he only stared at me. I sighed, "You're like a little brother," I chuckled quietly, making sure Steve didn't wake up. Who had his arms wrapped around my waist and his head resting on my stomach. "Come here," I waved him down to the bed. He laid down on my left, since Steve was on my right, and rested his head on my shoulder. "You okay?" I asked him, my fingers slipping through his hair. Loki nodded, sighing. I rolled my eyes, he was falling right back to sleep. Once I heard his soft snore and laid back and fell back asleep myself.

******
-3rd person POV-

Tony and Bruce were in Bruce's lab, working on Emily's serum. Tony had the security cameras up and was shaking his head at the one that show Emily's room. "My sister," he said looking over at Bruce who took a glance up, "I will never understand her. I mean, she's practically a saint now." He looked back at the cameras. "She'd better pick Soldier boy. I will not have the Norse God of Mischief around forever." Bruce made a noise and looked down at the bench. "What?" Tony asked walking over to him, "I know that look. It's your 'I'm thinking too much' look." Tony pointed out. "What's on your mind, big fella?"

"You're sister, she-" Bruce shook his head. "Never mind."

"Uh-huh," Tony said popping a blue berry into his mouth, "You've caught my interest. Spill."

Bruce took off his glasses, "She comes here up tight and pretty much a bitch. And now she's comforting our biggest enemy? Doesn't something seem wrong to you?"

Tony picked his teeth with his tongue, "What are you thinking?"

"She's impressionable. Throw her into a room full of robbers for a week, she'll become the best bank robber in the world. Throw her into a room full of priests, she'll have married the church in twenty four hours. Leave her with Tasha and Clint for two hours and she'll have learned how to kill a whole army without making a sound."

"Okay," Tony said slowly.

Bruce leaned against the table and crossed his arms, "I think its apart of her subconscious. I don't think she see's what she's doing, how much she's changed since she's gotten her. She feels completely normal, this is nature to her. It's like her brain is trained to help her blend in, to go unnoticed, but she doesn't even realize it's happening," Bruce shrugged with all seriousness.

Tony nodded, "And that could be a bad thing. Especially with Loki around her all the time."

"No, no, no," Bruce stopped Tony. "I don't think Loki is a threat to her subconscious mind set. In all honesty, Loki seems to be better now that he's around her. No, I think is more like we should be worried if she gets captured. She gets pulled into a room full of people who are fully against us? Could turn bad. She could see what they see and turn on us. And with all she knows about us, how easy it is for her in the training room against us..." Bruce trailed off.

Tony's jaw clenched, "You think my sister is a threat?"

Bruce shook his head, "You're not listening, Tony. I like you're sister. She's a good kid. But we've got to keep an eye on her. We've got to protect her," Bruce amended.

Tony looked over at the cameras again and saw Loki get up and Steve move to leave as well. But Emily grabbed Steve's arm and cuddled into his chest. Tony gave a small smile and nodded. "You're right. But I should've protected her all along." Tony looked over at Bruce, "I'm not going to let anything happen to her, ever again."