Author's Note: I now realize I have this horrible habit of biting off more than I can chew, especially when it comes to writing. I plan big … WAY too big, and get frustrated when I can't deliver everything in a timely manner. Let me just say that what I have below is only about a third of what I had planned for this chapter. I feel as if I should write huge chapters to make up for the long time between updates, but I now get the feeling that y'all probably don't care about the length of the chapter as long as there is SOMETHING to read. So, from now on, expect shorter chapters (They'll still average over 2,000 words. I'm not about to kid myself here. I KNOW I can't write short to save my life.) so maybe that'll fix my mental block and problem on this issue. A huge thanks and shoutout to everyone who left kudos and all the 'I can't wait for the next chapter' reviews. It kept me going all these months. You have no idea how much that means to me. :)

Chapter 3 - Persuasion

The silence in the Quinjet on the flight back was deafening. Only the quiet hum of the engines outside broke it, but even then, it was more like white noise than actual sound. And it didn't appear as if the two men within were willing to break it anytime soon.

It had been like this since the two had left the Bus. Loki was seated near the back of the aircraft, leaving Clint to sit up front by himself. Clint focused on flying. Loki focused on his thoughts. It would have been an amicable silence if not for the tense nature of it.

Loki wasn't sure what had happened between the time he and Coulson had entered the man's office and had subsequently left it after their discussion. He was certain something had happened, though. Barton's usual snark towards him had disappeared, leaving a touchy sullenness in its wake. Loki would have normally taken no small amount of joy in baiting the other man, depending on which of Barton's sullen moods had taken hold. However with this one, the God of Mischief erred on the side of caution and left the man be. His eyes held the ghost of haunted memories and Loki was sure those memories included him as a central character. He knew no amount of apologizing, no matter how meaningful it was, could rid the former agent of what plagued his mind.

Yes, best to leave the man be for now. Besides, he had his own thoughts to comb through.

His conversation with Director Coulson had gone well enough, or as well as could be expected. After the man had gotten over his initial shock of the question (to which Loki would later admit it was rather gratifying seeing the normally well composed man lose it like that), he had warily given his version of a blessing. He had cited that while he wasn't Skye's father, he wouldn't stand between her having a chance with her soulmate. However, what wasn't said so much as implied was that if Loki broke her heart or harmed her in any way, shape or form, he would have quite the extended family willing to draw blood.

Overall, he respected the man more for it.

With the blessing given, Loki moved on to the topic of Skye's training. He knew she would probably feel more comfortable being in a familiar environment, but he doubted SHIELD's base would be properly reinforced to withstand Skye's abilities should something go awry. Loki had a feeling she would rather see her team safe over her own comfort if at all possible. His only suggestion besides taking her off to some deserted location, which would have not been proper for a courtship, was the Tower. If the Tower was equipped to handle the Hulk during one of his rages, then it should be able to withstand her during her worst. Or, at least he hoped so.

Loki paused in his musings as he felt the Quinjet begin to descend. He looked towards the cockpit and the windshield beyond, recognizing the familiar scene that was Avenger Tower. Taking a breath, he readied himself for what he had left to do. He needed Stark's and Rogers' approval to bring Skye into the Tower, and given her lack of control, that would be no small feat.

'Perhaps if I play to the captain's sympathetic heart. He would take pity on the poor girl,' he surmised. Given her demeanor, Loki believed his soulmate would never appreciate such thoughts though, and would refuse to be looked upon as a charity case. However, appearances be damned, this was about manipulating the situation to achieve the desired results, and Loki was most infamous for doing so. After all, he wouldn't be lying that she was a young woman in over her head and desperate for help. That would be the easy part. No, his only problem would be making the others realize he had no dark ulterior motives in helping her. Which, of course, he didn't have any ulterior motives besides the fact she was his soulmate. But, of course, that was rarely ever believed of him.

He would rather the others not know just yet that Skye and he were soulmates. However, he also realized that was a fool's wish. A secret like that doesn't stay secret for very long. No, better to use it to his advantage instead. And he knew just how to do it.

"Barton," he entered the cockpit just as they docked. The man behind the controls hummed gruffly in acknowledgement that he had heard the Asgardian, although he never looked over. Loki, expecting the reaction, continued. "May I ask a small favor of you?" As Clint's eyes shot over to him with a hint of distrust, Loki continued. "It might be best to not reveal everything about Skye for the time being."

Understanding dawned in the archer's eyes, the first hints of amusement playing out on his face with a curling of his lips. "Hmm. Don't want mommy and daddy to know just yet?"

"More like I would rather Skye not have to deal with the questions when she immediately arrives," Loki took it to be a good sign the other man was beginning to thaw. He wasn't sure how this conversation would go otherwise. "She will have more than enough to manage once she gets here, and it would be best to at least give her a chance to adjust. I already know Stark will be endless with his onslaught of comments."

"You got that right," Clint agreed. "I swear, that man just likes to hear himself talk." He looked up and turned his full attention to the man standing beside him. "So you want me to keep quiet for just her comfort? Yeah, right," Clint crossed his arms. "I get that she's going to be outside of her comfort zone, but I'm not buying it. There's another side to this coin, and that's you."

"Are you suggesting it would be wise to stress an individual with possibly violent abilities while she is still learning control?" Loki arched an eyebrow. "She does not need that. Do you disagree?"

"I think you just don't want to deal with the others when they find out," Clint chuckled. "Oh I can just imagine what they'll say! It might not be as bad as you think. Then again, like you said there is Stark..."

"What would it take?" Loki asked again slowly.

Clint went silent as he thought it over. "A favor," he replied simply after a few moments.

"Go on," Loki urged.

"Now see, I don't know what it is yet," he shrugged. "But I would like to call in a favor from you the next time I need it. You agree to that, we're square."

"You want me to agree to a favor I do not even know the parameters of?"

"If you want me to keep my silence, then yes," Clint smugly grinned.

Loki kept his face neutral as he weighed his options. This could work. He just had to play this right. "You do understand I can not do anything … too uncouth as part of my agreement for being here?"

"Yeah, yeah. I won't jeopardize your parole. Now, sound good?" Clint offered his hand to the Asgardian.

Loki gazed at the offered limb and then to its owner's eyes. Knowing this was a calculated risk, he took it firmly.

"Agreed," he nodded. Clint's smile widened. Loki didn't share it.

"Great! Now, we better get out of here before they start asking questions." Clint pushed himself out of his seat and towards the exit of the quinjet, an extra spring in his step. Loki followed at a much more sedated pace.

The two made their way to the main recreational room for the team. Giant glass windows gave a perfect view of the New York City skyline. A bar on the far side, a deep seated lounge area in the middle, and plenty of space for people to mingle, it was the ideal location for the group to unwind. So it was no surprise then to see that it was a full house when they entered.

Tony had made a rare appearance from his labs (drink still in hand, mind you) and was chatting animatedly with Bruce about something that was more than likely science and/or tech related. Bruce, meanwhile, appeared to be nodding along to whatever Tony was saying while still gazing over a large packet of notes. Thor and Jane were seated comfortably next to each other on one of the couches. He'd chosen to don attire that was better suited to Midgard than his usual armor, although Mjolnir was still close at hand. Darcy, meanwhile, was sprawled on another couch nearby idly playing with her iPod and listening to music.

Steve, Sam and Bucky had just walked in through a hallway on the far side of the room. They were each covered in a light sheen of sweat after apparently having just finished a training session. Bucky remained quiet while the other two traded conversation a half of a step ahead of him. It had only been a few short months since the group had located the former Winter Soldier in the European countryside. His recovery was as to be expected: slow, but steady. He was beginning to open up and be more social, but it was still a long way to go before he returned partially to how people remembered James Buchanan Barnes to be. At least, that's what Steve and Bruce said. Loki had a feeling he would never get back to being that person after all that he had been through, though he never vocalized his thoughts.

From the elevators to Loki's and Clint's left came Natasha, having sensed the arrival of her soulmate. As she neared them, she and Clint shared a look before her eyes swept over to Loki. Her lips twitched. Clint looked back at him over his shoulder, a smirk of his own forming.

'And here it comes…'

"Barton. Don't. You. Dare," he said lowly, just loud enough to catch the attention of keen ears yet quiet enough to not make an obvious scene. The archer's smirk widened.

As they say: hook, line, and sinker.

"Hey everyone!" Clint shouted as he turned away from the frozen Asgardian. "Guess who found their soulmate?"

Silence reigned. Everyone turned to look first at Clint who was grinning like a madman. Clint looked back at Loki. Their eyes followed. Loki in turn stood stoically, his gaze refusing to meet anyone.

"Well what do you know. He has a soul after all." Natasha came over to Clint and crossed her arms over her chest. "Never would have thought it."

"Brother, that is fantastic news!" cried Thor as he rose from his seat, a wide ecstatic smile spreading across his face.

Clint chuckled at the silent man beside him. "See, you're not the only one who can lie," whispered Clint.

"Is that so?" Loki drawled lowly while still staring straight ahead. "My, your prowess is astounding."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me! Reindeer games? Seriously?" Stark appeared gobsmacked and yet dangerously gleeful. "Wait, who is it? She must be a right piece of work. It is a girl, right?"

"Tony!" Steve leveled the man with a glare. "Have some respect!"

"Oh c'mon Cap! You're thinking it too!" he shot back. "You're just too nice to say it!"

"She's-"

"The young woman Director Coulson requested I aide," Loki cut in before Clint could get any farther. Now that the secret was out, he just had to control it.

"The one who gained powers, right?" Steve questioned.

Thor looked questioningly at his brother, smile lessening as he realized this was far more complicated than him simply finding his soulmate. "She was the one who went through Terrigenesis?" Thor asked, already knowing the answer.

Loki nodded, eyes locking with his not so blood kin. "Yes, and she is terrified."

"Of you? Not surprising," Tony shrugged and took a swig of his drink. Loki stiffened.

"That is enough," Thor growled and took a step towards Tony, hand clenched at his side. Mjolnir wobbled ever so slightly on the ground nearby.

"No, not of me," Loki coldly began, falling into a familiar dance with Stark. The two could rarely be in the same room together before words began to fly. "Rather of herself and what she is capable of. She believes herself to be a danger to those around her. I must say, it reminds me strongly of how you described Pepper Potts' ordeal with, what was it? Extremis?"

The word was sibilant, soft and smooth. To Tony, it was like a viper's bite. Loki knew when his metaphorical poison had taken hold, the muscles twitching along the other man's jaw as he clenched his teeth was the giveaway. Loki continued, drawing out words as was necessary for desired effect. "Alone, terrified, believing she could kill you, and thinking that she was a danger to the world. And all because she was put in a situation outside of her control." Loki took slow steps towards the now silent man, eyes harsh and voice low. "You mock my soulmate's terror, but it truly is no different than that of your soulmate's a year ago. Ms. Potts' was afraid to let you even touch her. Mine is terrified of setting foot on the very ground beneath her feet for fear of what she can do. Be careful how you mock, Stark. Our situations are far more similar than you may think."

Loki stopped a mere foot from Tony, chin angled down to allow the full heat of his gaze to lock onto the other man's eyes. Tony's jaw clenched once. Twice. His fist tightened.

"So," Steve began after he cleared his throat, the tension obviously growing to dangerous levels. "What's her name? It can't be Agent."

"You're right, it's not," a voice called from the far side of the room. Everyone looked up to see Maria Hill exiting the elevator, heels clicking sharply on the floor as she approached the group. A data pad was gripped in her right hand. "Her name is Skye. No last name known or given." She paused, taking a moment to give Loki a pointed look. "I just got off the phone with Director Coulson. How you managed to land one of his up and coming agents as your soulmate, I will never know." Loki didn't give a response. Now came the second part of this dance, and if the good Director had done his job right, the steps should go smoothly.

"No last name? How'd she hide her last name from SHIELD? There are always records somewhere with that information. You know that," Tony huffed.

"She's an orphan," Loki supplied. "I would even venture a guess that Skye isn't her real first name either."

"Since she's SHIELD, do you know her?" Steve piped in with the question in hopes of staying on track.

"Know her? No. Know of her, yes." Maria's fingers slid over the the data pad's surface as she skimmed files. "She was originally a consultant for Coulson's team. He picked her up on his first mission back from recovery. She was part of the Rising Tide."

Tony perked up. "Oh, really? Go on, you have my attention." Bemused looks crossed the faces of some of the team, clearly not understanding. With an aggravated sigh, he explained. "Rising Tide. Group of hacktivists. Loved to expose the truth about super powered people and other things such as everything that happened in New York. Full access of information for all. In other words, royal pains in the ass for SHIELD," he grinned widely. "My kind of people, actually."

"Yes, and that's why she landed on our radar in the first place. Not only did the Rising Tide crack our RSA Implementation, but they also were able to beat us to the location of a powered person. They uploaded a video to the Internet of the person using their abilities. We hadn't even known about him before that. All of which was done by Skye."

"Wait," Tony waved, his smile never faltering. "You're saying she hacked SHIELD? On her own?"

"Yes," Maria pursed her lips as if it were painful to admit. "And to add insult to injury," she continued scanning the screen, fingers tapping and scrolling as necessary.. "According to interrogation notes from when we first grabbed her, she was able to do all of that from her van using a laptop that she won in a bet. Also found out she and the rest of the Rising Tide had been tracking down something known as 'Centipede.' It was a science program that was working on creating super soldiers using a modified version of Extremis and a mix of other chemicals," she paused. "That wasn't on our radar, either."

Tony's eyes went cold. "Extremis? How did you guys not keep an eye out for people using that shit? After what happened to the President!?" And Pepper was left unsaid, but was clearly understood by everyone in the room.

"That's because someone from Hydra was funding it. They got it from the inside," Maria shot back. "We handled it, the man behind it is dead, and we can thank Skye for putting us on the right track in the first place. In any case," she turned back to Steve, "she's one of Coulson's best agents."

Steve held out his hand for the data pad, a sense of where this was going already settling in. "And I'm assuming your call from Director Coulson wasn't just a check in."

"You'd be right," she quipped, handing it over. "He's asking for our help. He thinks our facility might be better equipped to handle her training."

"Better equipped?" Steve repeated as he browsed through the information. Loki couldn't see much within it from his angle, but he could tell it was it was at least a personnel file, photos included.

"Loki, they called for you. What can you tell us about her powers?" Steve finally asked. "And please, save the scientific spiel."

Loki nodded. "From what I could tell, Skye appears to be able to control vibrations of everything around her. And at the moment," he paused and clasped his hands behind his back, right hand firmly holding the left. "She is doing it unconsciously. During my examination, every instrument in the room began to shake. From her reaction, she was unsure of how she was doing it."

"Wait a minute," waved Tony. "Vibrations? Doesn't that also include earthquakes?"

"They were airborne when we got the call, and it didn't look like they were on a mission," confirmed Clint.

"So, what you're saying is we're talking about bringing a person with uncontrollable abilities, including earthquakes, to the heart of New York City?" Tony's tone was incredulous. The ice in his now empty glass clinked constantly as he gestured violently. "One emotional outburst and there goes a skyscraper! Are we seriously considering this?"

"And here you were just praising her for being a 'royal pain in the ass for SHIELD,'" reminded Loki. "Also, that very comment could apply to at least one other person in this room. No offense, of course." He nodded towards Bruce. The doctor arched an eyebrow and merely shrugged.

"True, but I stayed away from civilization until I had a handle on mine."

"I sincerely doubt an agency such as SHIELD would allow one of their best agents to disappear into the wilds for an undetermined amount of time," Loki countered. "Besides, are there not rooms in this very tower that are built to withstand you at your worst? Not to mention the countless armors I've heard were made for containment for if the worst should ever happen. If the rooms can contain you, then they should be able to contain her abilities if they were to get out of control."

Tony finally set his glass down after realizing it no longer held his precious liquid, although he was sorely wishing for more of it at the moment. Crossing his arms, he cocked his head at the leather clad man before him as if he were a naive child. "Those abilities aren't even close to being the same. We've no idea if those rooms could even contain violent vibrations such as what we're talking about here. I'm not even sure it's possible."

"Ah, so there is something you can't build," murmured Loki. "I knew it had to exist."

The other man stiffened, eyes widening slightly like a bull who saw red. And that's when Loki knew he had him.

"Hey, I said I'm not sure it's possible. That's different from being impos-"

"We should help her."

Tony jerked at being interrupted by the quiet, yet firm voice of Bucky. It wasn't often that the man spoke up, so when he did, it usually took most people by surprise. As it was, he currently had everyone's attention.

"I still have programming that I don't even know about, that none of you know about. Triggers that could send me back to be a killing machine. And yet I'm here, even with everyone in this room knowing that," Bucky continued. "I'm dangerous. Hell, we all are. Any one of us with the right equipment or even just our bare hands could do some serious damage to just about anything we pleased. This girl didn't ask for this, but she's left to deal with something that she probably never really wanted in the first place. That's something about half of us here are familiar with dealing with." His metal arm whirred faintly as he crossed his arms, jaw set as if to dare anyone to tell him he was wrong. "Now, if she's looking for help, who are we to tell her no? It's obvious we're her only option. So, punk, you know my vote."

"Hard to argue with that," Natasha murmured.

Tony fought with a response, mouth floundering, but he eventually fell silent. Sam quietly grinned in the background, nodding his approval. No one else said a word. Steve gave Skye's information another brief glance before nodding.

"You're right. We're probably her only shot. Loki, you really think you could help her?" At the other man's quick nod, Steve handed the data pad back to Maria. "Alright then. Let Coulson know he can send her over. Just let us know when we should expect her."

"It'll probably be sooner than you think. Coulson said Loki did something to her that prevented her powers from properly working, but he also mentioned it was only a temporary fix. Is that right?" she queried from the man.

"48 hours at most," he clarified. "It is not something I would like to do very often, but it shall work in the short term."

"Well then, I should go make that phone call." And with that, Maria disappeared into the elevator.

'God of Lies and Master of Manipulation, indeed. That was almost too easy.' Loki mentally chuckled. He moved to follow Maria's lead to board another elevator that would lead to his own quarters when Steve's voice reached him.

"Loki," he said quietly. "We wouldn't turn your soulmate away, especially when she needs help. I wouldn't allow it." Blue eyes met green, the former showing only honesty with what he had said, the latter realizing this and blinking first. With a nod that was more like a minute twitch, Loki disappeared behind sliding metal doors.

Next time: Skye seeks advice from the only other soulmate pair she knows on base. Problem is, the two fight just about as much as they fuck.