The next six weeks went by quickly. I would wake up wrapped in Loki's arms, go meet Steve and Natasha for training around eight, train for two hours, shower, eat breakfast with everyone, annoy Tony in his lab for awhile, read on the couch while cuddling with Lokitty, have dinner, wash, rinse, repeat. I wasn't allowed out of the tower alone because of the obsessed fans lurking around.

No one had time to take me out of the tower yet. I was starting to lose my sanity within the tower walls. I could only imagine how Loki was feeling about it all. He had been trapped in the tower for months. He never complained, but I worried over his mental and emotional health. He craved mischief, needed it, and was instead laying low and keeping out of trouble.

I was sitting on the living room couch, watching 'Mean Girl's' for the hundredth time, when Tony came in.

"Follow me, I have a surprise for you." He said before turning and walking away. Lokitty and I shared a look of confusion before quickly jumping off the couch to follow him.

"Surprise? What surprise?" I asked as I followed him to the elevator.

"If I told you, it would ruin the surprise." He replied as the elevator door opened.

"Last time you gave me a 'surprise' I blacked out." I deadpanned. Tony chuckled.

"Yeah," he laughed, "that was more of a surprise for everyone else."

A couple of weeks ago, Tony got Thor to smuggle me some Asgardian mead. Tony had tried to get me drunk on multiple occasions, with no luck. This was his last resort, and it had worked. He tricked me by telling me it was a new wine he found for me to try. He then challenged me to a game of truth, or drink. I would have answered the questions, except I couldn't. He started asking questions about his future just to get me to drink. Not that I minded, or didn't until I figured out what the drink actually was. The alcohol hit me hard and all at once. One minute I was fine, and then the next... nothing. When I woke up, Tony made sure to show me all the embarrassing photos he took of me.

"So, will I actually like this 'surprise'?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes," Tony responded, "this one you'll like." We walked into the elevator and Tony pressed the button for the lab floor. It wasn't unusual for Tony to bring the team to his lab. He was constantly updating someone's suit, or gear, and he loved to show it off.

When the doors opened up to the floor, I walked out and started turning to the left towards his lab.

"Not so fast, Skydive." Tony called to me. "This way." He told me and turned to the right. I furrowed my brows and glanced back toward his lab once more before going to catch up with him.

"We're not going to your lab?" I asked him even though I already knew the answer.

"Nope," he said and stopped in front of a set of frosted, double doors. "We're going to yours." He pushed open the doors and stepped aside to let me see.

My eyes went wide in awe as I stared at the room. There were tons of new shiny machines begging to be played with. Some were ones I didn't recognized. It was a biomedical engineers wet dream.

Every machine had the Stark emblem on the side. In the middle of the room, was a large metal table with the most beautiful piece of machinery I'd ever seen hanging from the ceiling above. From the ceiling hung a laparoscopic robotics machine with four separate arms attached. It was so beautiful I almost cried.

"Stark, I know you don't like hugs, but I'm going to hug you." I warned , still in a daze.

"Please don't." He groaned. I didn't listen. I turned to him and wrapped my arms around him tightly. Tony rolled his eyes at my dramatic response and pat me on my head. "Great, appreciation noted." He told me. "Now let go before I take it all back."

I quickly let go and chuckled, turning back to face the room.

"You sure this isn't a dream?" I asked. Instead of responding, Tony pinched my arm. "Ow!" I yelled and grabbed my, now throbbing, arm.

"Nope, still not a dream." He said with a smug grin on his face.

"Stop doing that!" I frowned while rubbing my hurt arm.

"Then learn to decipher reality from dreams." He responded.

"It was a figure of speech! I didn't mean it!" I grumbled back.

"Never know with you, Skydive." He shrugged. "So, whatcha think?"

I looked around the room again at a loss for words at how I felt.

"No words." I sighed with a smile.

"Huh, if I knew this would render you speechless, I would have gotten it done a lot quicker. Maybe then you would leave me and my lab alone." Tony teased.

"I can't even be offended, cause you're right." I nodded.

"Well," Tony said expectantly. I looked at him with a confused expression. He rolled his eyes at me. "I didn't spend millions on equipment for you to just drool at it."

I snorted and finally got my legs working enough to walk in. Once I was actually moving, I couldn't stop. I jumped form machine to machine, practically buzzing with excitement.

"You should be fully stocked, but if you need something ordered, J.A.R.V.I.S. can get it for you." Tony assured me.

"This is... amazing, Tony . Thank you, truly." I told him, a genuinely grateful smile on my face. Tony's smirk changed into a soft smile.

"Sure, Skydive." He said and took a couple of steps into the room.

"You're definitely getting baked goods as a thank you gift."

Tony's eyes lit up at the mention of baked deliciousness. "Make me those peanut butter ones you made Thor."

I chucked and agreed. The 'peanut butter ones' he was referring to were treats I made last week. They were for the whole team...but Thor got to them first and refused to share after tasting one. They were chocolate and peanut butter mini cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and a chocolate and peanut butter macaroon on top.

"Deal!" I told him happily. "I'll make sure to hide them from Thor this time." I laughed.

"That would be appreciated." Tony commented. "Keep them away from Clint, too. He has a thing for chocolate."

"I've noticed." I said while messing with one of the high powered microscopes. "He ate an entire bag of semisweet chocolate chips from my baking drawer." I grumbled. A few weeks ago, I walked into the kitchen to see Clint popping handfuls of chocolate chips into his mouth while sitting on the counter. I had scolded him for getting into my baking stuff and took the bag away from him. I explained that eating too much of the semisweet chocolate chips was going to make him sick. Later that night, I found an empty bag of chocolate chips and a very sick Avenger. To say I was less than impressed would be an understatement.

Over the last few weeks I had been finding out what kind of sweets all the Avengers liked. Thor and Tony liked peanut butter treats. Clint and Bruce liked chocolate treats, Bruce especially liked cake. Natasha liked hard candies and French pastries, and Steve liked butterscotch. I had yet to find out what Pepper liked. Mostly because she was always gone on business lately.

"What do you think you'll work on?" He asked.

"Umm, well your machine equipment is a lot more advanced than most of what I messed with back home. I'll have to practice with some of it, but once I get the hang of it I'll start working on stuff for the team." I told him. "Maybe add a few more medical safety equipment into the gear. Back home I was working on a formula and device that sealed wounds instantly. It was going to be for military use and emergency medicine. I wish I still had access to my notes. I'll have to start over, but it would be useful to the team." I rambled.

"Alright, I'll leave you to your new toys." Tony called to me while I continued my rambling. "Oh, and only you and I have access, unless you allow otherwise." He said over his shoulder before disappearing down the hall and leaving me to my fun.

"Keep your hands up!" Natasha yelled as she knocked me on my ass for the fifth time that day. I laid on the training room floor trying to catch my breath. My strength was back and I was getting stronger in everything except hand-to-hand. No matter how hard I tried, I always seemed to get it wrong. "Come on." Natasha sighed and held out her hand to help me up. I groaned in pain as I grabbed her hand and allowed her to pull me up.

"This isn't working!" I huffed. "The only thing I'm accomplishing here is bruising my ass."

"Not true!" Natasha told me and, without warning, aimed a punch for my face. I ducked on instinct and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Whoa, what the hell?" I squeaked.

"See." She said and smiled at me. At my still offended look, she rolled her eyes. "You dodged an attack without expecting, or being ready for it . It was all muscle memory. Your body is remembering how it's getting hurt and is adjusting and avoiding it next time you're in that situation." She explained. "It's survival. You might not be picking it up quickly, but you are getting somewhere." She assured me. "Or at least your subconscious is."

"It doesn't really matter. If I'm ever in a situation where I need hand-to-hand, I'm screwed. There is no way I could beat someone who is trained in it."

"Maybe, maybe not. That's why we're doing this. And you don't have to be even half as good as me, or Clint. You have a huge advantage with your teleportation abilities." Natasha said. I had been down on myself lately, frustrated because I couldn't get the hang of hand-to-hand. She was trying to cheer me up, and I appreciated it.

"Bet you could still kick my ass though, teleportation, or not. I don't stand a chance." I smirked at her. She returned my smirk and took a few steps back.

"One way to find out." She told me and got into her fighting stance. I chuckled and did the same. Natasha lifted her hand out in a 'come at me' sort of gesture, smirk still on her face.

I took a breath. She probably expected me to teleport behind her. That's what most people would do, so I did the opposite. I teleported in front of her and aimed low instead of high. She was definitely shocked, but only for half a second. She blocked me and grabbed my arm, twisting it behind my back. I grimaced and teleported out of her hold. I tried to get her knees to buckle, but she was too fast. I aimed a kick for the back of her knee, but she twisted and kicked me in ribs with her other leg. I somehow managed to take most of the force from the kick in my forearm. I grunted and teleported to her other side, managing to elbow her in the side. Unfortunately, that put me within reach. Nat kneed me in the stomach and punched me in my left cheek. I fell to the ground on my back. Nat straddled me and held her fist out to hit me again, but waited, knowing she already won.

"Ok!" I panted. "I yield!" I held my hands out in surrender and watched her lower her fist. She smiled at me and sat back on her heels, catching her breath.

"You did well." She said between breaths. "You even managed to land a hit on me." She sounded impressed and it made me smile. "When do you and Steve start working on advancing your teleportation abilities?"

"Next week." I told her. She was still sitting over me and a mischievous smile appeared on my lips. "Not that I'm complaining, because I truly love this position, but if the others were to see they might have some questions." Natasha rolled her eyes at me and stood up.

"Keep your pants on, Sam." She said with faux annoyance, making me laugh. Natasha had gotten used to my flirting a while ago. She held her hand out to help me up and I took it. "We're done for today. You're with Steve tomorrow, right?"

"Uh, no. Clint." I told her. "Steve and him switched days this week. Something Steve is working on." I shrugged. She nodded and placed her hands on her hips.

"How are you doing with him?" She asked me with a slightly concerned look. The last time she saw me working with Clint was a bad day for me. I still couldn't pull the bow back and I got extremely frustrated, but that was weeks ago.

"Good." I told her with a smile. "I can finally pull back the 30 pound bow."

I would rotate specialties every day. I would do strength training and stamina with Steve, archery with Clint, and firearms and hand-to-hand with Natasha. Although I loved Steve, I hated his days the most. I hated running and running hated me. It was even worse because of the coma.

"See, we told you it would get better." Nat smiled at me. "I can already tell that your clothes are fitting you better." I looked down at my leggings and nodded. I finally felt comfortable wearing them. I was too self conscious before because of the way my hip bones jutted out. They were still prominent, but less so than a few weeks ago.

"Thank the gods." I laughed. "I finally don't feel like a walking skeleton."

"I know it was hard for you, but I'm glad you didn't give up. I would have kicked your ass if you did." She teased.

"As opposed to what you do to my ass every other day?" I teased back.

"Shut up, you know you like it." She scoffed.

"You're just lucky I'm a masochist." We laughed and started walking out of the training room. We talked a bit more on our way to our rooms. I waved her bye when we got to her floor. When the doors closed, I yawned. Even though I was building up my stamina, I still got tired easily. It wasn't uncommon to find me passed out on the common room couch, or at the lab... or dinner table, but that was only once!

When I got to my room, I walked out to see Loki reading on the couch.

"Hiya, Mischief. Whatcha reading?" I asked and strolled over to him. He had decided to stay in the room today instead of accompanying me like he normally did.

"Macbeth." He told me while turning the page.

"Again?"

He had already read Macbeth a few weeks ago.

"Didn't you just read it?"

"I find that you catch things you've missed the first time around when going through it a second, or third time." He told me absentmindedly. I left him to his book after that and went to take a shower.

Twenty minutes later, I reemerged feeling much better. Loki was still on the couch flipping through his book. I got dressed in jean shorts and a Led Zeppelin shirt and walked over to him. I straddled his lap at looked at him over his book. He smirked and put the book down on the table before resting his hands on my waist. I smiled at him and leaned down to kiss his perfect lips.

No matter how many times we kissed, I could never get over the feeling it left me with. My body felt warm and tingly, like it was filled with electricity. His lips guided mine slowly and I moaned into it.

"How was training today?" He asked when he pulled away from me.

"It was good." I responded. "Got my ass beat again, though."

Loki smiled and kissed my bruised cheek lightly.

"You're progressing though, yes?" He asked as he continued kissing down my jaw and neck. I closed my eyes and relaxed into him.

"Nat seems to think so." I said in a breathy voice. "I don't know. I just can't get the hang of it." I sighed.

"Not everything can come naturally to you." Loki told me with a laugh. He then bit down lightly, right under my ear.

"I know, I just don't like not being able to do something. Normally, I would have already quit. I'd rather quit than fail." I said truthfully. I'd gotten into the habit of saying whatever was on my mind when Loki was around. There was no point in trying to lie, or sugarcoat things with him. He'd see right through it. Loki hummed against my neck and pulled me closer to him.

"You can't quit this. You need the training." He told me.

"I know." I grumbled and laid down on him. He kissed the side of my head and started running his fingers through my hair. "Loki?"

"Hm?"

"Aren't you bored stuck in this tower all day?" I asked. "I know I am." I heard him sigh heavily and I pulled back to look at him.

"Yes." He simply said. At my frown he continued. "But, it's where I need to be. If I leave the tower, I can't come back."

"What do you mean?" I asked, furrowing my brows. Loki looked down for a minute to think of his words.

"When I entered the tower the first time, Starks intelligence system was being replaced. This allowed me access to the building, and as long as I never left, the A.I. thought I belonged." He explained.

"But, you did leave... during the press conference."

"Yes, and you escorted me back in, allowing me access. If I were to leave the tower again, I would need you, or one of the others, to give me access." Loki tucked my loose hair behind my ear as he told me this.

"Wait, so you left the tower knowing that you couldn't come back?" I frowned at him. "Why would you do that?"

"We went over this already, Kitten." He lifted a brow and brushed his fingertips up and down my arms, trying to soothe me.

"That was before I knew this!" I protested.

"It is in the past. Don't think about it too much." He told me and pulled me back to lay on his chest. I cuddled into him, but was still upset that he did something so stupid.

"I'm still mad at you." I grumbled. He sighed with a laugh and kissed my temple.

"I know." He said, picking his book back up to read to me, before we were called to breakfast.

A few more days passed and Lokitty and I were snacking in the kitchen. I was making chicken, while Lokitty sat on the counter next to me. We were eating strawberries while we waited for the chicken to cook.

"Hey, Skydive." Tony said as he rounded the corner. "Wha-wh- why is there a cat on my counter?" Tony asked when he saw Lokitty. I shrugged and flipped the chicken over.

"He was hungry." I said and popped a strawberry into my mouth.

"But, it's on my countertop!" Tony whined. I rolled my eyes and went back to my chicken.

"Hey, what's the date today?" I asked.

"Uhh, September 30th, why?" He questioned. I furrowed my brows while I thought.

"Uhm, no reason. Just figuring out where we are in the timeline." I told him.

"Skydive, is there something I need to be preparing for?" He asked carefully.

"Always!" I laughed to try and settle the tension. "Don't worry, everything's fine." I assured him.

"Would you tell me, if it wasn't?"

"Nope!" I turned and smiled at him. "Can't risk changing the future." I told him. That got me thinking of Thor and Loki's future.

What would happen if Loki wasn't on Asgard when the second movie was meant to take place? Thor was currently on another world, saving the nine realms from the aftermath of the bifrost being destroyed.

Was he already in Vanaheim? That would mean that the second move was meant to start. Both Loki and Thor needed to be there.

Could Jane possibly not be infected with the Aether since their future was changed? Thor had been to see her many times since the battle of New York.

Darcy and Jane were meant to be in London about now, but what if their future had changed too much? I couldn't let the Dark Elves get ahold of the Aether. The carnage would be too great. That left one option... to go to London myself.