The Simulation
Another few weeks passed and Kat was getting better and better every day. She was able to spar against Valkyrie without getting hit, and she was able to use her powers to subdue Loki when they sparred as well. She had been doing so well that Tony thought it was time she trained with the team in a simulation room. Kat wasn’t sure, but Tony told her that she was ready, and she trusted him.
He gave her a uniform, black pants and a black jacket, with a tank underneath. “It will absorb any magical power used against you, rather than your body taking the hit.” He told her. She ran her hand over the fabric, lightweight and conforming to her skin, like it was a part of her. “Thank you, Tony, really. This is amazing.” He just ruffled her hair and led her into the simulation room.
It sounded pretty simple, lifelike enemies would appear in the room, and while they couldn’t shoot you or anything, you could still engage in combat and get hurt. Kat lined up next to Loki, and he sent a wink her way. She looked away and blushed, taking in a breath to ready herself.
“Alright kids. Let’s do it.” Tony said, suited up in front of them. “Friday hit it.” The lights in the room went down, and the whole room changed into a battlefield. No. This wasn’t a battlefield. This was the streets of New York. Tony had brought up the alien invasion for them to fight. Kat remembered how her powers took over that day. She had no idea what was happening to her, only that she was ripping apart the creatures like they were paper.
She lifted herself up in the air, soaring over the room, shooting blasts at the make-believe creatures, bobbing and weaving in sync with Tony. She noticed that there weren’t any of the big ships in the simulation, which was probably due to the fact that the room just wasn’t big enough. You shot one down that was coming up behind Valkyrie, earning a nod from the warrior.
Everything was going great, and Kat felt like she was finally in control of her powers. She soared in the sky next to Tony and Rhodey. She was so pleased with herself that she didn’t see the small ship come out of nowhere and slam into her, causing her to fall on the ground.
“Dammit.” She groaned. When she got up, Kat realized she was surrounded. She tried to throw up a shield to protect herself, but she was too late and got her feet knocked out from underneath her. Kat started to panic as they closed in on her and she felt her magic taking over again and she screamed and blew all the aliens away from her, one of them flying right into Tony, who also got hit with her magic. Kat watched as he slammed against the wall and fell on the ground, not moving. Rhodey stopped the simulation and Kat covered her mouth with her hand as Loki helped her up.
“What happened, are you alright?” He asked. She shook her head and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding when Rhodey was able to get Tony’s faceplate off and get him sitting up.
‘Oh God, I’m so sorry.” She called out, puling herself out of Loki’s grasp and running to her room. She slammed the door behind her. What the hell happened? She was doing so well. It only took one instance of het getting cornered and she lost her shit. That sometimes happens on the battlefield, what else did she think? That everything would go her way every time and she’d be able to control her powers at all costs?
Not likely. Not with her luck.
She waited a little while before slowly making her way down to the common room to check on Tony. She stopped right before the doorway when she heard Rhodey talking.
“She’s not ready man. What happened out there today shouldn’t have happened. That can’t happen when were out there.” He told Tony.
Tony sighed. “Look, it was her first simulation training, she was doing really well.”
“She could have killed you Tones!” Rhodey yelled. Kat flinched from behind the wall. He was right. She could have killed him. She could have killed them all.
Tony glanced to Valkyrie. “What do you think?” The warrior sighed. “I don’t think she’s ready Tony I’m sorry.”
Tears began to form in Kat’s eyes. She had failed. Her first mission, that wasn’t even a real mission, and she had failed. She had hurt one of her teammates. How could she expect them to ever let her go out for real? She ran back to her room, not seeing the Norse God trail after her.
Loki could sense she was standing behind the wall but chose to not say anything. He really thought the others had more faith in her. She made a mistake, hadn’t they all? When he sensed her pain, he swiftly got up and exited the room, heading down to her door and knocking softly.
“Kat?” He called out. He heard sniffling from behind the door and slowly turned the knob and entered. Kat had her back to him and he could hear the soft sobs coming out of her. “Oh, Little Dove, it’s alright.” He cooed.
“Loki, please don’t come any closer, I don’t want to hurt you.” She sobbed. She turned and Loki stopped walking toward her when he saw her magic was trying to take over. The veins were back on her arms and her eyes were black. This hadn’t happened in so long. He thought she had gotten it under control.
“It’s alright Kat, you won’t hurt me.” He said, taking a step toward her. She took one back. “Please, I can’t control this. I hurt Tony; I could have hurt everyone. I heard what they said about me. I can’t do this.” She choked out in between sobs. It tore Loki’s heart to see this beautiful girl so broken. He took another step, and to his surprise, she didn’t move away.
“You can fight this Kat. You are strong enough.” He told her. She shook her head. “I can’t. It’s too strong.”
“Look at me.” Loki commanded. She looked up at him and saw concern and caring. Why did he care for her so much? And why did she care for him?
“You can control this. You are powerful. You are strong. One of the strongest, most beautiful women I’ve ever met. Reel it back in. It cannot control you any longer.” He told her. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. It took a few seconds, but her hands were turning back to normal, and when she opened her eyes, the brilliant green that Loki loved was back.
He raised a hand to cup her cheek. “There she is.” He whispered. She gave him a small smile and placed her hand over his. “Why are you so nice to me Loki?” She asked. He gave a soft chuckle and smiled back down at her.
“Love, do you really not know?” Kat tilted her head in confusion and started to say something but stopped when Loki placed his lips on hers.