I woke up alone. The sun was just coming up, so it must have been around 6:30am. I groaned and stretched my limbs out from their curled position. Today was the dreaded press conference. I was not looking forward to playing the part of 'America's little angel'. I was by no means an angel, in any sense of the word. I looked around the room and slowly sat up. I sighed heavily as I untangled myself from the blanket and got out of bed.

"Morning, Kitten." Loki said from the other side of the room. He was laying across the couch in the sitting area, reading a book. I smiled happily knowing that he didn't leave me alone after last night.

"Good morning, my prince." I said as I walked closer to him. "Whatcha reading?"

Loki didn't take his eyes off the book as he answered me.

"A Study in Scarlet." He told me.

"Oh, Sherlock Holmes."

Loki finally put the book down to look at me.

"You've read it?" He asked. I chuckled and nodded.

"I love Sherlock Holmes. In my world, they made it into a TV show. It was one of my favorite shows to watch." I explained.

"It is a very amusing book, so far. I'm not even half way through it though, so don't ruin anything for me." He told me in an almost teasing manner. I gasped in mock offense and put a hand to my chest.

"I would never dream of it, my prince." I said. He smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Of course not. You are a good, little pet after all." He said sarcastically as he returned to his book. I laughed and stared walking backward toward the bathroom.

"I'm going to go take a shower." I told him. "Would you like to join me?" I asked. Loki looked up from his book again and raised his brows at me.

"Don't tease me, Kitten."

"It's not teasing if I mean it." I smiled mischievously and turned away from him.

"Tempting." Loki chuckled and went back to his book.

After I took my shower, I put lotion on and brushed my hair and teeth. I finally remembered that I had forgotten to bring a change of clothes with me into the bathroom, and although it was tempting to walk out of the bathroom in just a towel, or nothing at all, I decided against it. I instead teleported into the closet.

I dressed in a dark purple crop top and light blue jean shorts, then teleported out of the closet. Loki was still laying on the couch reading peacefully, so I walked up from behind him and slid my hands over his shoulders and down his chest. I bent forward to put my head into the crook of his neck. I heard him sigh, but he kept on reading. I lifted my head up after a minute and turned to look at him.

"Thank you for last night, my prince. I really appreciated it." I whispered and kissed just below his jaw. He sucked a breath in through his teeth and I chuckled. I gently nipped at his cool skin before running my tongue over the small bite. Loki put his book down and tilted his head back against my shoulder. One of his hands trailed up my arm and he gently pulled me around the couch to stand in front of him. Without saying a word, he slowly pulled me onto him, so that I was straddling him. His hands went to sit on my hips and he watched me for a minute before speaking.

"Are you going to tell me what you were dreaming about last night that frightened you so badly?" He asked, making me frown.

"Really?" I asked him. "I'm in this position and that's the question you ask me?"

Loki smiled and tightened his grip on my hips.

"Trust me, I know the position you're in." He told me. "But, I want to know what's bothering my kitten."

"Your kitten? Am I officially yours now?" I asked with a playful smirk.

"Stop changing the subject, Kitten." Loki told me seriously. I sighed and looked away from him.

"I'm not, I'm just- it was just a nightmare. That's all." Loki reached up and placed a hand on my cheek.

"It still frightened you." He told me softly as his thumb stroked over my cheek. I smiled and leaned down.

"Thank you for worrying about me, my prince, but I'm ok." I said before I connected our lips. I started slow and sweet. His lips moved with mine, savoring the kiss, but it all ended too soon when he pulled away from me.

"You still haven't answered me." He told me sternly. I groaned and sat back up. I didn't want to talk about the dream, but I still had to answer truthfully, or he would know.

"It was this stupid press conference." I told him. He wanted to know what was bothering me, and the press conference was definitely bothering me, so it wasn't a lie. "It's got me all stressed."

Loki furrowed his brow. "Press conference?" He asked. I hummed in confirmation and nodded.

"Yeah, someone recorded a video of me saving the boy and it went viral online. Now the entire U.S. thinks I'm some perfect angel." I pouted. Loki let out a small laugh.

"They don't know how wrong they are." He smirked and moved his hands down from my hips to my thighs. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Exactly, that's why I'm stressed. They are looking for me to either meet their standards, or fail and tear me down." I groaned. "I told Tony I could do this, but... I'm not sure I can."

Loki tilted his head, questioningly.

"Why does it matter what they think about you?" He asked.

"You of all people should know why. You're a prince. So, why does it matter what your people think of you?"

Loki hummed in acknowledgement and nodded his head slightly.

"Give them one reason not to trust me, one reason to be scared of me, and things will get so much harder. For me and the rest of the Avengers." I told him and took a deep breath. Loki started rubbing soothing circles into my thighs. It was comforting, but also distracting. "I'm gonna mess this up." I groaned and massaged my temples with my fingertips.

"Come here." Loki told me and tugged on my arm to get me to lay down on his chest. "You'll be fine, Kitten." He said and slowly started stroking my hair.

"You don't know that." I mumbled against him. He chuckled a little and I felt the vibrations of it in his chest.

"Would you like me to go with you?" He asked. I pulled away to look at him, furrowing my brow.

"You can't. Tony and everyone else will be there."

Loki smiled at me and moved a piece of loose hair out of my face.

"I have my ways, Kitten."

"I'm sure you do." I smiled back. "But it's still an unnecessary risk."

"I didn't ask if it was a risk. I asked if you wanted me to go with you." Loki stated.

"I- Of course, I do." I said as a slight blush dusted over my cheeks. "But, I don't need you getting caught. I like having our conversations without you in a jail cell."

"You underestimate me, Kitten." Loki moved his hands back to my hips and squeezed gently. I smiled and leaned down.

"I think you're underestimating everyone else, my prince." I told him before leaning down to kiss him. He kissed me back softly. When he tried to deepen the kiss, I pulled back slightly, keeping the kiss soft. I wanted to see how long I could tease him for. Apparently, the answer was not long because the next time I denied him and pulled back, Loki growled and switched our positions. In an instant my back was to the couch with Loki hovering over me. I sighed as Loki pressed his lips to mine again. My arms wrapped around his neck and my legs around his hips, pulling him closer. He bit my lower lip and I immediately parted my lips to taste him. One of his hands ghosted down my side, causing me to shiver. His hand stopped on my mid-thigh and squeezed firmly. I moaned and arched into him while he smirked against my lips. Just as I was forgetting about the rest of my day, a voice snapped me back to reality.

"Ms. Sammee, Ms. Potts is wondering if you are ready for her." The A.I.'s voice said. I groaned and pushed Loki up a bit.

"Shit!" I said under my breath. "You just had to interrupted right as it was getting good." I frowned and laid my head back against the couch. Loki smirked and leaned down to kiss me again.

"Then, ignore it." He told me and connected our lips. I pushed him back again.

"I can't. She's helping me get ready for the press conference."

"Shame." He said before kissing down my neck. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"You're not helping." I mumbled.

"Then, tell me to stop." His hands went to hold my waist down, slipping just under my shirt.

"Ms. Sammee? What should I inform Ms. Potts?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked again.

"Fuck- uh, tell her I'll be ready for her in ten." I said, a bit out of breath. "Loki, you really need to go, now."

Loki didn't move to get up. He only continued kissing my neck gently.

"Always hiding me away." He teasingly told me before softly nipping at a spot on my neck.

"That's not- oh, fuck... you know that's not what I'm doing. But-" I cut myself off with a moan as I struggled to think of anything other than his lips on me, but I managed to push him back. "Loki, you know I can't think when you do stuff like that."

A teasing smile pulled on Loki's lips and sat back on the couch.

"And I've told you before that that's exactly the point, Kitten."

I sighed and sat myself up. "You're evil." I told him as I stood up. He only laughed at me.

"God of Mischief, Darling." He said with a smirk. I narrowed my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him. Loki, in turn, winked at me, making me laugh before I turned to enter the bathroom. I immediately looking at the mirror to fix my hair knowing it was a mess. Looking at my reflection, my eyes went to a few, very noticeable, marks on my neck.

"Loki!" I yelled and ran out of the bathroom. "Fix it!" I whined and pointed to my neck.

"Why? I quite like them." He asked and tilted his head. I bit my lip in frustration.

"I can't go in front of the press with marks on my neck." I explained. "Please!"

Loki sighed and got up from the couch. He walked over and stopped directly in front of me.

"Fine, but only because you beg so nicely." He smirked and placed his hand on the side of my neck. "Don't expect me to do this every time I leave a mark, though." He added. When he was done doing whatever magic he was doing, he dropped his hand from my neck.

"Thank you, my prince." I smiled and kissed him quickly. "Now go, before you're caught."

"Fine." He sighed.

"We can talk about your book when I get back. You should be close to done by then, at least." I told him. He gave a nod and then, in a flash of green, was gone.

Pepper showed up less than five minutes later. We talked a bit about what to do with my hair before moving on to wardrobe. It a was decided that curls would look best. After that was done, Pepper applied, very light, makeup to my face. When I looked back in the mirror, I noticed that I looked a lot younger than I was. My skin was porcelain smooth and the blush made me look very innocent.

"I'm guessing I'm wearing some kind of white dress. Pure angel style?" I asked in a less than joyous tone. Pepper chuckled.

"You would be correct, unfortunately." She told me while fixing my hair. "The PR team thinks it's best."

"I'm sure they do. Whatever keeps the people happy, I guess." I sighed and moved some hair out of my face. "No one cares if it's actually true." I mumbled. Pepper gave me an apologetic smile and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Let's get you dressed." She said and motioned toward the closet. "I grabbed something when they were talking about waking you up. It might be a bit big." She opened the closet and went in to find what she was looking for. Pepper came back with a beautiful white sundress. It had a lace flower pattern and stopped at the knee. The dress had shoulder straps, but also had an off the shoulder ruffle that would hang over my upper arms. It was such an innocent looking dress. I hated wearing dresses, but if I were to wear one, it would look nothing like this. Not that the dress wasn't pretty, it was, it just wasn't... me.

"Wow." I said. "Why do I feel like I'm about to be the virgin sacrifice?" I laughed, Pepper laughing with me. "Alright, give me the damn dress." I said, still laughing.

While I put the dress on, Pepper went back into the closet to find shoes. She was right, the dress was a bit big, but not by much. It wasn't that noticeable.

"Have you worn heels before?" Pepper called out to me.

"Yep." I called back. A second later she came out holding white, open toed, strapped heels. I huffed, but held my hand out for them.

"How does the dress fit?" She asked as I sat to strap the shoes on.

"You were right, it's a little big. Not bad though."

When I finally got the shoes on, I stood up. I wobbled a bit since, one, I wasn't used to wearing heels that much anymore, and, two, my legs were still getting used to walking again. Pepper looked me over and smiled with approval.

"You look gorgeous." She told me. I smiled back and touched my hair.

"Thanks."

"Ok, let's get down to the guys. They should all be ready by now." She sighed and started walking towards the door. I nodded and followed her out. When we got to the elevator, I thought about how nervous I was and how much I wanted to see Loki.

"Hey, uhm- I'm gonna grab something real quick. I'll meet you down there, ok?" I told her and turned back to my room.

"You sure? I can wait." She asked. I shook my head and smiled.

"No, you go ahead. I'll just teleport down." I told her. Pepper nodded and laughed slightly.

"Right, forgot." She said as the elevator opened. "Ok, see you down there. Be fast." She called out as the doors started closing.

"Will do!"

I teleported into the guest room as soon as the elevator doors closed.

"Loki?" I asked. I had teleported right in front of the bed, but didn't see him. I did, however, feel him a second later when he grabbed my waist from behind.

"Here, kitten." He said in my ear. I sucked in a startled breath, but immediately relaxed against him when my heart calmed down. Loki moved my hair away from the side of my neck and leaned down to kiss my shoulder. "You look nice."

I smiled and shook my head, turning around in his grip.

"That's a good thing since I'm about to be in front of a hundred people."

"You'll do fine." He said and tucked my hair behind my ear. He then looked me over and furrowed his brow.

"What?" I asked worriedly.

"You're missing something." He said and tilted his head. A moment later, I felt a cold weight on my neck. "That's better." Loki smiled.

I touched my neck and felt a thin chain. I picked it up and looked at it. It was a simple gold necklace. The gold chain was attached to a green gem that sat in the center of my chest. I ran my fingers over the gem in awe.

"Loki, this- wow."

"Better get going, Kitten. Don't want to be late." Loki teased. I dropped the necklace and looked up at him.

"Right," I smiled, "I'll see you later?" I asked. Loki nodded once.

"I'll be here."

I teleported down to the main avengers floor to see everyone waiting for me.

"Sorry," I said, "had to grab my phone." I held up the phone for emphasis. "Hope you all weren't waiting long."

"Not at all, Sammee." Steve assured me. "Tony had just walked in when you showed up."

"Lady Sammee!" Thor boomed. "You look lovely." He said and smiled at me. He was wearing a maroon suit with a white dress shirt under it. He looked nice.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Odinson." I smiled back. "Actually, you all clean up well." I said while admiring everyone. Tony, Clint, and Bruce were wearing black suits, while Steve wore a blue suit. Pepper was wearing a beautiful purple dress that hugged her body, and Nat was wearing a black dress that flared out at her waist. "Wow Nat, you look gorgeous." I told her while admiring her dress.

"Thank you." She smiled warmly at me, making me blush.

"Sammee," Tony called in a teasing voice, "your gay is showing."

I turned and glared at him.

"Zip it, Ironass." I told him. Thor immediately bursted out laughing and clapped Tony on the shoulder.

"She called you Ironass because of your metal man suit. It's clever." He laughed.

"He gets it, Thor." I said as I, and everyone else, laughed. Well, everyone besides Tony.

"Yeah, whatever. Ha, ha, very funny. Can we just get going already?" Tony asked, looking very annoyed, and turned towards the elevator.

We all piled in and started making our way to the main floor. I was standing in the back corner next to Thor and Steve.

"Apparently, we had double the reporters show up, so we had to move the event outside." Pepper informed everyone. I started getting nervous and subconsciously played with my necklace.

"Nervous?" Steve asked. I nodded and gave a nervous chuckle. "Don't be, you'll do great." He reassured. I sighed and gave him a grateful smile.

When I turned back to face the others, I noticed that Thor was staring at my necklace. His brows were scrunched together in thought as he stared. I immediately dropped the necklace and cleared my throat.

"Lady Sammee, where did you get such a necklace?" Thor questioned. His tone was serious. I looked down at the necklace, trying desperately to think of something.

"Oh, this? You like it? I thought it was really pretty." I said, avoiding the question. Thor frowned and was about to say something else when the elevator doors opened. "Show time." I sighed and walked out with the others. Thor was still watching me with a very concerned look on his face. I made sure to move as far away from him as possible.

"Ok," Tony called and turned to me, "so first I'm going to announce that you are alive and well and recovering and all the boring stuff. All you are going to do is stand there looking cute and innocent. After that I'm going to open the floor for questions, that will be mostly you. Don't worry, we will still be there to help if you get stuck."

"Ok..." I said a bit shakily. Tony rolled his eyes and sighed. He walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Relax, Skydive. You'll do fine. It'll be fun." He smiled reassuringly. I took a deep breath to calm my heart rate and nodded. "Ok," Tony said and pat my shoulder twice before dropping his hand. "Let's roll."

We all walked out to the front of the building. There was a stage where the Avengers and I would be standing. About a hundred people with very big cameras were among the audience. The rest of the audience consisted of, what looked like, fans. I immediately tensed up when I saw just how many people were here. Nat noticed and grabbed my hand. Either it was for support, or to make sure I wouldn't bolt, I couldn't tell. When I looked at her, she nodded to me calmly. Her eyes were kind and her hand warm against my own.

"Remember to smile." She reminded me.