"A book?"

"That's right. When I was your age, television was called books. And this is a special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today I'm gonna read it to you."

"Has it got any sports in it?"

"Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…"

"Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake."

"I don't remember any giants," Tony points out, his perpetually amused smile in place.

"Well, unlike you Tony, the other guys are kinda tall."

"I don't remember any torture," Steve adds, trying, diplomatically, to steer the subject from Tony's unimpressive height.

Loki smiles mysteriously. Not even I am sure if it is in reaction to 'torture' or some thought about Tony's height. And I'm the author! Loki was never one to be cooperative, though.

"There is a bit of torture. Just not in the usual sense," I defend.

"Like having to be near them," Loki finally speaks, his tone dripping with disdain as he gestures to his companions unenthusiatically.

"That's not what I was talking about," I reply in exasperation.

"I want to know where the true love comes in," Vision interrupts, though by the look on his face I think he already has an answer in mind.

"Push me and I will pair you with Wanda."

"How unoriginal."

I glare at Loki. "Thus the threat."

Silence reigns for a moment before I turn to the still-silent Thor and Natasha.

"Well, are you two going to say anything?"

Natasha shakes her head in a barely detectable gesture. How very Natasha of her.

Thor looks uncertain. "Hi?"

Jane steps from the doorway. "What do you mean: where does the true love come in? There'sTony and Pepper, and… and… Thor and I…" she stops, realizing her list isn't very long after all, and looks to me for help.

I shrug. "You'll have to wait and see."

"I hate waiting," Astrid quotes with a grin.

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Full Summary

Astrid Quimby is a woman of great mystery. Even the man who claims to be her brother seems to know little about her. When a man comes to Earth searching for something, her brother and her new friends will learn more about her. But not every one of them is sure that's a good thing.

Join Astrid as she forms unlikely alliances with both the Avengers and Loki, and tries to keep them from killing each other—or, at least, trashing her place in their attempt. Follow her as she finds herself fighting for something she thought she never wanted to fight for, and falling for someone she never wanted to fall for.

[An Avengers / Thor fanfiction. Featuring Loki, Thor, Jane, Vision, Wanda. MCU canon pairings and eventual Loki x OFC. (Mostly?) MCU canon background, but not a retelling of any of the movies. Timeline reference: the story begins a few months before and then returns just before, during, and after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron (but, again, not following the movie, but what is going on elsewhere).]

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Disclaimer

THIS APPLIES TO THE ENTIRE WORK! I do not own any characters or concepts borrowed from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the original Marvel comics, Norse Mythology (though that is public domain) or any other recognizable content, including other brands, books, and movies that may be referenced, whether obviously or cleverly (if you consider me clever). All credit goes to their respective creators and owners. This is a fanfiction, after all. That's how it works. I do not make any profit from this work. It is for my enjoyment and yours. I do own my O.C.s (original characters), plot, original concepts, etc. Please respect that.

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Note on the Text: Italics, Underlining, and Dialogue

When dialogue is italicized it indicates the speaker is not using English or the All-Tongue (both of which are written with normally styled text). When emphasis is used while someone is speaking a foreign tongue (and the words are therefore already italicized), I use underlining rather than non-italics, as I think it is more noticeable.

When single quotation marks ( '…') are used, it indicates speaking or hearing in the mind (telepathically), rather than words spoken aloud, which are indicated by the standard double quotation marks ( "…"). As usual, a quote within a quote will use the opposite type of quotation (for example, "He said 'I love you'" or 'He said "I love you"').