Yang Luoluo had never imagined she'd be pestered about dating at barely twenty-something. She fled back to her room like she was being chased.

"Phew..." She patted her chest, steadying her breathing, then turned to change.

The claim she'd thrown at the dining table, that Peter Parker had invited her out, was no excuse. One of the reasons Harry and the other wizards had come in the first place was to learn about the mundane world, but Tony Stark had dumped them at school, and ever since, their days had consisted of exactly two things: attending class and doing homework.

The group was absolutely miserable.

It just so happened that today was the weekend. Peter Parker and Ned Leeds had decided to take them out for a proper good time, calling it, with great ceremony, a deepening of their understanding of mundane society.

The only problem was that everyone in the group was male except Hermione Granger. Worried Hermione Granger would feel out of place, thoughtful Peter Parker simply folded Yang Luoluo into the outing as well.

What Peter Parker didn't know was that to Yang Luoluo, this was nothing short of a lifeline. First, she wouldn't have to sit there and endure Tony Stark droning on about her love life. And second, it gave her a perfectly legitimate reason to stay away from Loki.

At that thought, her hands slowed as she braided her hair.

It wasn't that she hadn't noticed Loki's increasingly puzzled looks over the past two days. But what else could she do except keep her distance?

She was just that much of a coward.

"Aish." She let out a sigh, straightened her outfit one last time in the mirror, and opened the door.

"..."

Yang Luoluo stared expressionlessly at Loki standing right in the doorway.

"You're going out?" He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, the picture of entitlement. "Take me with you."

"Ah, actually, I'll be fine on my own. With Peter Parker and Harry around, nothing's going to happen."

Yang Luoluo pushed down the turbulent emotions rising in her chest and turned Loki down as tactfully as she could.

She was planning to use this outing to clear her head. Bringing Loki along would defeat the entire point.

The moment Loki heard Peter Parker's name, a nameless fire ignited in his chest.

He stepped forward without warning. Using every inch of his height advantage, he looked down at her, dark-green eyes roiling with something Yang Luoluo couldn't read.

A chill crept up her spine. She stepped back on instinct.

Loki had already been on edge from two days of watching her avoid him. Seeing that flinch made it worse.

He advanced. She retreated. Step by step, until her back hit a cold, hard wall, and only then did she realize she'd been backed into a corner.

"You're avoiding me." He leaned down slightly, his voice low and unhurried. The distance between them narrowed until his breath grazed her face, and she only needed to tilt her chin the smallest degree to see the clean line of his jaw. "Why?"

Loki was genuinely at a loss.

It had started after that night of drinking. Yang Luoluo had been dodging him ever since, both openly and not. He'd turned the whole thing over in his mind and kept arriving at the same answer: the party.

Had someone said something about him while he wasn't paying attention?

That didn't track. Yang Luoluo had accepted that he was a Frost Giant with a long history of misdeeds. There was nothing anyone could say that should have made her suddenly pull away like this.

So what was it?

Yang Luoluo had no idea what was going through his head. Her gaze drifted, visibly unsettled by how little space existed between them.

"What do you mean? You're overthinking it..."

She tried to brush it off. But Loki was not the kind of person who could be brushed off with a line like that.

He arched an eyebrow. "Are you planning to lie to the God of Lies?"

Damn it. She'd forgotten about that.

Yang Luoluo's expression locked up. Words failed her entirely, and the two of them stood in an eerie, suspended silence.

Seeing her lips pressed shut, eyes cast down, with no intention of speaking, Loki simply said what he'd already concluded.

"Let me guess. At that party... someone said something?"

"!"

Yang Luoluo's head snapped up involuntarily, straight into the depth of his gaze.

"So it is." He confirmed his guess and pressed forward. "Who? What did they say?"

No. If this went on any longer, Loki was going to piece it all together. She had to get out of here.

"I made plans with Peter Parker and the others, it's almost time, I really have to go—"

She spotted a gap to the side and made for it. Loki's arm shot out and blocked her.

She was completely trapped now. Loki's face filled her vision, his sharp gaze close enough that she could see her own panicked reflection staring back at her from his pupils.

Even now, this person was still thinking about running off to find that spider-kid.

When Loki spoke again, his tone had an edge to it, like each word was being bitten off.

"Fine. You won't tell me." He held her gaze, his eyes darkening until they were nearly black, a storm quietly building behind them.

"That's all right. I'll have a look myself."

Before she could react, Loki raised his hand and pressed it to her forehead. A pale green light pulsed along the edges of his palm.

She hadn't been fast enough to dodge. The instant he made contact, all the blood in her body seemed to surge into her head, she felt like she was burning up, a stark contrast to the ice-cold hand against her skin.

"No — you can't do this, Loki! You're actually reading my memories!"

She squeezed her eyes shut, shouting while throwing every bit of will she had into blocking him out.

He couldn't see those memories. He couldn't.

Whether it was sheer determination or something else entirely, Loki's consciousness was repelled almost immediately.

It didn't matter. He'd already gotten what he came for.

Thor. So it was Thor.

Very well. You're finished.

It had never crossed Loki's mind that one relaxed evening spent away from Yang Luoluo's side could allow his idiot brother to cause this scale of disaster.

While Loki was still lost in his fury, Yang Luoluo slipped out from under his arm. She watched him carefully and, after a moment, realized, he hadn't seen it. The memories she'd been guarding most closely, the ones that would give everything away, he hadn't reached those.

Phew.

She exhaled. Then the anger came flooding in.

Loki, of all the nerve, reading her memories right to her face!

If she could actually take him in a fight, she would have pinned him to the ground and given him the beating he deserved.

A chill shot down Loki's back. It pulled him out of his rage. He turned his head and found Yang Luoluo's gaze already on him, her expression thunderous, and only then did the full weight of what he'd just done settle over him.

Loki:...

He was done for.

He had expected her to unleash on him, had actually braced for it. But she didn't yell. She looked at him for exactly one second, then walked away without a backward glance.

Loki stood there, uncharacteristically at a loss.

He watched her figure grow smaller. He pressed his lips together, thought about it, and in the end, not wanting to get yelled at, he didn't follow.

...He'd talk it through properly once she was back.

Right now, he had a big-mouthed fool to deal with.

He turned toward the compound dining hall, jaw tight, expression darkening with every step.

---

SMACK!

Thor looked up blankly, mouth packed with chicken drumstick. Loki was standing across the table, one hand flat against the surface, visibly incandescent. Thor hurriedly washed down the mouthful with a swig of cola and cleared his throat.

"What is it, Loki?"

"You have the nerve to ask!" The sheer idiocy of Thor's expression made Loki's blood pressure spike. He seized Thor by the collar, and the tall, powerful God of Thunder went limp in his grip like a startled little chick.

"You actually — you know exactly what you told her that night!"

Thor's rarely-online intelligence flickered to life just long enough to work out who "her" referred to. But...

Which night? What had he said?

The genuine blankness on Thor's face made Loki even angrier. The fact that every Avenger in the vicinity had stopped eating and was now watching with open interest only made it worse. Loki would have cheerfully leveled the entire building.

He pulled in close and hissed directly into Thor's ear, low and sharp as a snake's tongue. "You fool. The night of the party."

That landed.

Thor shot a quick look at Loki. The gaze slid away. There was a guilty swallow, a sudden keen interest in the table. "Ah. She — she actually heard? I assumed..."

Thor was now filled with profound regret about having offloaded state affairs onto Frigga and coming to Earth alone. If Asgard was where Thor had stayed, there would have been no too much to drink, no letting anything slip, and absolutely no sitting here receiving his brother's barely-leashed fury.

Loki drew a slow breath. He worked very hard to suppress the thought of beating Thor to death and sparing Odin the indignity of an heir.

Then he smiled.

It was not a good smile. To Thor, it looked like a death warrant with a name on it.

"Thor. Listen carefully. If she..." Loki paused, leaving the specific consequence unspoken, then finished with a measured, pleasant calm: "In short, Asgard can look forward to welcoming their Frog King."

He strolled away.

Thor stared at the plate in front of him, the urge to cry thoroughly overwhelming the urge to eat, as the fried drumstick slowly transformed into a small, dark-green snake.

The Avengers exchanged glances around the table.

"Tsk, tsk." Tony Stark took another bite of the burger. "Drama before breakfast. You two really are something else."

➤ Next: New Friends — Words Unspoken

Chapter 96 - New Friends — Words Unspoken

"Luoluo! You're here!"

Yang Luoluo spotted Peter Parker and the group from a distance, standing outside the amusement park entrance, Hermione Granger already waving at her. She took a breath, smoothed out her mood, and jogged over with a smile.

"Sorry, I'm late."

She looked at them apologetically.

Loki had held her up for a bit, and then her own low spirits had dragged her pace down without her even noticing. Late, just like that.

"It's fine, we just got here too. Besides, it's still early—we've got the whole day!"

Peter Parker had almost never gone out with this many friends at once. The excitement was written all over Peter's face, eyes practically sparkling. The next second, Peter reached over and pulled the chubby boy standing nearby forward.

"This is Ned Leeds, my friend. Oh wait, I forgot, you already know that. But Ned doesn't know yet that you're an Avenger too!"

That last part was whispered, leaning in close.

The bright energy in Peter's voice cut right through Yang Luoluo's gloom. She leaned in and whispered back, "Reserve member, technically."

Peter let out a couple of quiet "heh heh" laughs.

Peter didn't know why Luoluo had seemed off earlier, but now... she looked fine, right?

Yang Luoluo and Ned Leeds went through proper introductions, and thanks to Ned's naturally easy warmth, the two of them clicked fast.

Choosing the amusement park as their first destination had been Ron Weasley's call, made after developing a basic grasp of the ordinary world. Draco Malfoy's response had been immediate: "That's stuff only little kids enjoy!"

Roller coasters and drop towers were undeniably thrilling for ordinary people, but for wizards who rode broomsticks and superheroes who swung on webs every day, this was barely a warmup.

Hard to blame Draco for the attitude.

Reality slapped it right off soon enough.

Out of pure mischief, Peter Parker had saved the haunted house for last.

The Wizarding World presumably had no haunted houses. The scariest thing most wizards had probably ever faced was a pale, bald, snake-faced man. Peter was genuinely fascinated to see how they'd handle this.

"Are we... are we actually going in? I mean, " Draco stood in line, face drained of color, voice wavering underneath the bravado. ", this doesn't look like much."

Everyone could hear the tremor no matter how hard Draco worked to hide it.

Harry wore a quietly resigned expression. The rest of the group bit down on their smiles.

The building loomed ahead, all shadow and rotting angles. Screams tore out from somewhere inside. The sign by the entrance read: VOTED AMERICA'S SCARIEST HAUNTED HOUSE. It delivered on every count.

Draco swallowed. One step back, blocked. Ron Weasley had planted directly behind, cutting off the retreat.

Ron's own courage wasn't exactly legendary, but catching Draco Malfoy this spooked was a rare gift. Ron pushed the fear down and didn't hesitate.

"No way. No way. You're a Malfoy, and you're actually scared of this?"

Visibly, it landed.

Draco's spine snapped straight. Still completely bloodless, still shaking slightly, but the familiar arrogant expression slid back into place. Draco scoffed.

"Scared? Please. It's a haunted house. What you should worry about, Weasley, is not wetting your pants."

Ron spluttered and immediately launched a counterargument about exactly who was going to wet whose pants, and then a commotion erupted from the front of the crowd.

"Thief! That guy's a thief!"

The wizards: "..."

It had to be said, since arriving in America and patrolling alongside Peter Parker every day, they had seen things. Car thieves. Muggers. Kidnappers. A thorough education, all of it.

Today in New York was, once again, a peaceful day.

A man in a cap and mask shoved through the crowd, pushing people aside left and right, heading straight toward their group. Yang Luoluo used the crowd as cover and quietly stuck out a foot.

BANG,

The power behind it was not small. The thief launched forward and skidded across the ground, momentum carrying a solid stretch.

Before the thief could react, the girl who had been standing in line behind Yang Luoluo shot out like a spring. Her knee drove hard into the small of the thief's back, pinning the person down. She snatched the web line Peter Parker held out and bound the thief's hands and feet without ceremony. When the thief fought back violently, she clapped a hand to the back of the skull to settle things down.

By the time she stood up, the thief was trussed tight. She patted the person down, found the stolen wallet, and returned it to its owner without a word.

"I saw that." The girl winked at Yang Luoluo. "Surprise attack with the foot."

Yang Luoluo looked at her. An odd sense of familiarity tugged at something in her chest, though she couldn't place it.

"You're impressive too. Did you train somewhere?" She returned the compliment without hesitation.

The girl nodded, eyes clear and bright, lively as a deer's. "Yeah, some basic grappling."

The girl glanced over at Peter Parker and raised an eyebrow. "I don't know where you pulled that rope from, but it's solid, I'll give you that."

Peter gave a slightly guilty laugh.

A few exchanges later, it was clear the age gap was basically nothing. They warmed up fast, and since the line had moved up to their spot, all eight of them went in together.

"Let's do proper introductions. I'm Kate, Kate Bishop." Before they stepped inside, Kate smiled and extended a hand to Yang Luoluo.

!

Yang Luoluo reached out and shook it in something of a daze.

She knew it. She knew the face was familiar.

That name, wasn't that the second Hawkeye?

Kate didn't understand why Yang Luoluo's expression had gone suddenly warm and lit-up, but there was no ill intent in it, so Kate let it go.

---

"Hm. Malfoy. Not so impressive after all."

"Hm. Weasley. Absolutely pathetic."

"Me, pathetic? I wonder who was screaming in there like something was eating them alive."

"I don't know who that was. All I know is someone was scared half out of their mind and nearly dragged my trousers down with them."

"That is a complete lie—"

"..."

Kate went quiet for a moment. Then, carefully: "Your friends... sure have a lot of energy."

Yang Luoluo and the others covered their faces.

Just embarrassing.

The two of them had been all bravado outside. The moment they crossed the threshold of the haunted house, the lights bled away and strange sounds came at them from every direction, and Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley had started shaking like a pair of quail before a single scary thing had even appeared.

The argument just now had been conducted in full, knees knocking, clinging to each other for balance.

Peter pulled out a phone, checked the time, looked at the two pale, sweat-soaked figures ahead, and made a decision.

"Let's just go eat. Kate, you want to come?"

Peter extended the invitation with an easy smile.

"Sure!" Kate said without hesitation. Coming out alone today, a meal with new friends was a perfectly good use of the afternoon.

Walking toward the restaurant, Peter quietly fell into step beside Yang Luoluo and dropped the volume.

"Did you know Kate before? I keep getting the feeling that... you seemed really familiar with her."

Yang Luoluo glanced ahead at Kate, who was chatting away with Hermione Granger and the others, and lowered her voice to match.

"In the original timeline, Kate would have been Clint Barton's successor."

Now, though, because of the changes she'd introduced, Clint hadn't become that ruthless killer, "Ronin." Whether Kate would ever cross paths with Clint in this new future was still an open question.

"Cool." Peter's eyes went bright, the word landing with pure sincerity.

"What's cool?" Kate caught the word, curious, and glanced back.

Peter scrambled. "Nothing! Oh—hey, I noticed the calluses on your hands. Are those from training?"

Kate didn't give it a second thought, just held out a hand for Ron Weasley to inspect, and answered.

"Actually, those are from archery practice. My dream is to become a superhero like Clint Barton." Kate pumped a fist, completely serious about it.

Then Kate touched the side of the nose, a little self-conscious. "Okay, I know liking Clint Barton seems kind of weird. Everyone's into Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America, the big names. But Clint Barton is genuinely cool, isn't he?"

"No, no, no, not weird at all!" Peter waved both hands in alarm, clearly terrified of being misunderstood. "Clint Barton is extremely cool. Never misses."

"Right?!" Kate's eyes lit up, a flush of color rising in her face.

"My apartment was right across from Stark Tower during the Battle of New York. Clint saved me. Right then, I thought, this person is incredible. One arrow, one Chitauri."

"Yes! I've seen the footage. Every single shot, dead center, "

Two enthusiastic, unstoppable superhero fans fell headlong into each other.

Back at the compound, Clint Barton sneezed mid-cookie.

➤ Next: We Need to Talk