The moon was clouded over, leaving the sky pitch black as you were practically shoved into a truck with STARK INDUSTRIES plastered on the side.

Your breathing had resorted to shaky gasps, and you were just about on the verge of hyperventilating. It was all sickeningly familiar to the morning at the cafe. Your eyes flickered between the ground and Stark's face, glinting in the fluorescent lights.

"Do you want a selfie or something?" Stark mocked sarcastically.

"You took my phone," you muttered, narrowing your eyes at him. You also took Loki.

"Yeah, no, sorry about that," Stark admitted, "you won't believe what you can do on those things. Technology, am I right?"

You tightened your jaw and let your head fall back on the walls of the truck. "Hey, cheer up, Charlie Bucket," he warned, "We'll get there soon enough."

"And where exactly is there?" You groaned, exasperated and slightly embarrassed by your lack of context on the whole situation.

"Here." Replied the driver, the truck rumbling to a stop. The back doors opened, exposing you to the frigid night air. Stepping out of the truck, you were greeted by a sleek building, which you were pretty sure you had seen somewhere on the news before. "The Avengers Compound."

"I'll take it from here, Happy." Stark said, departing from the driver and turning to you. "Come on, kid. You've got a long night ahead of you."

-

Fifteen minutes. That's how long you had been waiting in that confining, torturous room. You counted every second of it, each one feeling like an eternity.

After all that time, you didn't expect the first face you were greeted with to be one you had seen just a day before.

"Y/N? I'm Steve Rogers," you popped your head up as he entered the room, your heart instantly skipping a beat. "I'm here to ask you a few questions."

"We're here to ask you a few questions," a woman corrected as she entered on his tail. "Natasha Romanoff. Shield Agent."

Your mouth fell open as the two of them seated themselves across from you at the desk you had been sitting at for forever. You stared at them for a few moments, starstruck, until Rogers finally spoke up. "Are you ok, L/N?"

You tightened your jaw. "Well, including you two, I've met four out of the six avengers in the last hour or so. Define ok."

"Actually, you've met four of seven," Natasha joked, leaning further across the desk. "We count the Hulk as two people."

That line really set in stone your disbelief that any of that was real. You were sitting across from Captain America, the world's first superhero, and Black Widow, one of the greatest trained assassins the world had ever met. And there you were, in a sweater and jeans, staring like an unattended child - which was pretty much what you felt like anyway.

"We might as well start, huh?" Rogers said, giving you the most reassuring smile he could. You nodded, and he continued. "First things first; your name?"

"Y/N L/N," you replied, "but you know that already."

Rogers nodded. "How old are you?"

"18 years." You replied.

"When did you become a barista at the Cafe?"

"Right after I got out of highschool."

Natasha cleared her throat. "Steve, you're terrible at interrogations," she cut in, "I can handle it."

"Proceed," Rogers muttered, "And it's not an interrogation."

Natasha nodded. "Y/N, how long has Loki been forcing you to hide him?"

You decided it was better not to contradict her logic. "I don't know, about 5 days? A week, maybe? Whenever the whole Sagedrop Cafe incident happened."

"Right," Nat agreed, "And did you have any previous connections with him?"

You shook your head. "Not before the cafe."

"I'm going to need you to be completely honest with us," Natasha leaned in closer, "What threats did Loki make towards you."

You swallowed back your anxiety. "He never really said anything, but he held a dagger to my throat," you explained, "after that, it was mostly just joking insults and the risk of me getting in trouble with SHEILD."

Romanoff cocked her head. "Sounds like you two were having a grand old time together. So what did you with him when he first threatened you?"

"We made a deal," you continued. "I would hide him from, well, you, let him crash at my place for a few nights, and let him raid my fridge, at the grant of him not killing me. In return, I also said he couldn't leave my sight, which he never betrayed. Also, I took him to Walmart."

Clearly, neither of them expected the last part, but they shook it off. "Did Loki ever physically or mentally harm you."

After a moment's consideration, you shook your head. "Besides being a huge pain in the ass, no, he didn't."

Rogers chuckled. "That sounds just like him."

"If you don't mind me asking," you said after a little hesitation, "Where is Loki?"

"I'm sure you want him to be handled properly," Rogers confirmed, "and I'll let you know that Loki is in secure confinements."

"Secure confinements?" You repeated, "what kind of confinements?"

"He's being kept in a space designed to hold much stronger than him," Romanoff stated, "And he has chains much stronger than the ones he had back in your hometown?"

That sounded like overkill. "Are you sure that's even necessary?" You insisted. "I mean, sure, he's a little aggressive, but..."

Romanoff narrowed her eyes at you, and Rogers crossed his arms over his chest, both of them locking you in a death stare. All the memories of everything you had heard about New York came flooding back. "He didn't tell you, did he?"

"Tell us what?" A familiar voice greeted you. Thor stood between the others, not making the situation any less intimidating.

You sighed, aware of how ridiculous you were about to sound. "He told me he was being mind controlled when he attacked NYC. That he woke up mid-battle."

"And you don't doubt that he could have been lying to you then?" Rogers condescended.

The comment stung you with anger and regret. "I never doubted it for a second. I was kind of hoping you would be able to confirm it for me."

"Obviously, if he had told us that, we might have treated him less harshly." Natasha stated.

"Or would you have just not believed him?" You raised your voice just enough to get your point across.

"Loki is hard to trust," Thor defended, "and yet I can't say I don't agree with you. He's still my brother, and I still have hope for him."

"But he still took several lives and caused mass destruction." Romanoff reminded him, shooting him a dirty look.

Thor shuffled around uncomfortably under her gaze. "Well, he's... still... adopted..."

"We know, Thor." you spoke in sync with the others.

"So why do you trust him so much?" Rogers hadn't let his gaze come off of you. "What happened since the incident to make you join his side? Are you being mind controlled?"

You gave an offended scoff. "What? No! I just think he deserves a second chance, and that maybe he's not as bad as he seems."

All except Thor looked absolutely done with you. "What happened between you and Loki?" Thor raised his voice.

"I treated him with basic acts of kindness, and he did the same for me," you defended, "that's it! So what if I think he deserves it?"

"Do you consider yourself to be Loki's friend?" Rogers accused.

"Yes." You stated. "I do. And I think he deserves to be treated better than he has been, especially if what he said was true."

"He's the god of lies! Everything he's said to you could have been fake!" Romanoff intensely insisted. "What happened between you two that made you so soft for him?"

"You're going to have to be more specific," you said, "because within a week, I have received death threats from Loki, I have been rescued by Loki, I have become friends with Loki, and I have fallen in love with Loki."