Unfettered (Loki x Reader)

Chapter 19 - About A Girl

"Sorry, Y/n. Can I sit?"

You nod, gesturing to the empty rock beside you. You both sit in a heavy, almost tangible silence. But Steve doesn't say a word.

"What are you doing out here so late, Rogers?" you ask, breaking the quiet.

"I could ask you the same thing, ma'am."

"Just getting some fresh air, I suppose," you say, flinging small rocks off the edge into the dark waves below.

"Fresh air?" he laughs. "Underground?"

An unwilling smile tugs at your lips. "Guess you've got a point," you say. "Pretty amazing, huh?" you ask, gesturing toward the giant bamboo forest.

Steve laughs, then sighs gently as he takes in the surroundings. "He's so much like his father."

"His father?" you question. 

"Howard Stark," Steve grins, reaching down to absentmindedly run his fingers across the rock surface. "He was the smartest fella this side of the Atlantic. Maybe even the other side, too."

"You were friends?"

"Yeah, I suppose you could say we were," Steve smiles, a glazed and far-off look in his eye. "Didn't know him long. But he still managed to teach me a lot. Even taught me how to hold my shield."

"Did you know Tony?" you question. "When he was a kid?"

"No," Steve's smile falters. "I was...up north."

"Oh," you say, mentally cursing yourself. "Right. Of course, sorry."

Steve offers you a gentle smile. "It's alright," he sighs. "Strange that it only feels like it's been a few years since I saw him, huh?"

Steve runs his fingers over the rock, tracing the edges and grooves. In his face sits a strange sadness. A melancholy resignation that you've never seen before. Not in Steve. And definitely not in Captain America. Steve feels your eyes on him and straightens up, the usual light back in his eye.

"That's why I like finding things like this," Steve grins, gesturing around. "I mean, an underground forest? When Tony does things like this, I can feel his dad in him. Howard was always more...aspirational than most."

"An underground forest is aspirational?" you tease. 

"Well, not exactly I suppose," Steve laughs. 

You grab a loose rock from nearby and chuck it over the edge. "I didn't know it was even here," you say. "It's not on the floorplans. Or on the elevator buttons. How'd you know it was down here?"

"Oh, I didn't," Steve says with a tiny lop-sided grin. "Every few days I check on you. JARVIS told me you were out of your room. He sent me here."

Heat flares in your cheeks, and panic drowns out the rushing of the nearby stream. "O-oh yeah?" you stammer, trying to keep your voice calm. "Check on me often?"

Please say no.

"No, not really."

Thank God. 

"Only once or twice a week," Steve continues. "Just to make sure you're, you know, still alive."

Relief tempers the fire in your face. "Yeah, well, living proof," you say bitterly, gesturing to the space around you. "Out of my room and everything."

"That's good. We were all getting pretty worried about you, you know. I think Tony had started to put together some sort of extraction plan."

You let out a snicker, but then look over to see Steve's serious expression.