Prologue

Lightning lit up the night sky, with its companion thunder following closely behind. The rain hammered down on the skyscrapers of the infamous New York City where, despite the rain, people still went about their business. The Avengers Mansion was in relatively peaceful. A majority of its residents asleep after a long day.

However that peace was abruptly broken.

The fire alarm blared throughout the mansion, jolting awake those who had just been fast asleep.

It took a minute for Steve to take a breath and calm himself, the sudden noise causing him to automatically become defensive. When he took notice of what awoke him, he sighed.

He made his way fast to the workshop, Clint joining him along the way.

"This is the third time this week!" he said as he pulled on a shirt and adjusted his boxers. "Good thing Bruce got those earplugs, I should invest in them."

"I know, I know," Steve said. He glanced at Clint. "Do you sleep naked?" he asked as he entered his code to gain access to the workshop.

"...No..."

Steve gave him a look.

When the doors slide open they were met with black smoke and the sound of Dummy hard at work. They coughed as the smoke hit them.

"Loki?" Steve cried as he waved his hand to clear some of the smoke but to no avail. He heard coughing from inside that progressively got closer.

"Everything's fine! No...no need to worry," said Loki. He soon joined Steve and Clint outside the workshop still coughing, he was covered in foam. The alarm had finally stopped and Steve just eyed Loki up and down, he was a mess.

"Were you on fire?" Clint asked.

Loki pursed his lips and crossed his arms.

"Not as badly as the desk."

Steve sighed again, an action that's becoming too common in his life. "Loki, you can't keep doing this."

"I'm sorry that my work is causing a disturbance and won't let it happen again. Now, if you can excuse me, I must get back to said work."

"Oh, no." Steve said as he grabbed Loki's arm. "You are going to get cleaned up and go to bed. You need rest."

Loki whined but didn't fight as Steve dragged him away from the workshop.

Inside the smoke and foam filled workshop, if one looked close enough, they would be able to see the blood red eyes staring in their direction.