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Something Unexpected

The room was dark, immensely so, soothing …but suffocating. All light from the city outside was washed out by thick, colorless curtains that hung over two ceiling length windows running down tall colorless walls. Loki sat unsmiling among a small arrangement of black leather couches which laid neatly in the center of the room, parallel to a broad and marvelous fireplace. His eyes closed, taking in the hum of silence that emanated around him, waiting. Slowly his eyes opened, seeing nothing through the darkness as if his eyes had still been closed. Time annoyed him, and he had waited long enough. Swiftly he stood from the couch and, through the darkness, made his way silently over to the fireplace.

There was no wood to light, but it didn't matter. With a quick movement Loki rolled up his sleeve, taking caution so to not singe the fabric of his dress shirt and opened his hand, revealing a soft green flame. Gently he whispered to it, and within seconds it grew orange and blazing, licking at his palm. He extended his arm downwards and on command the fire dove into the pit, growing larger until it was perfectly sized. Crossing his arms behind his back he stood there and watched the fire dance before him. Waiting…

A smell rose in the air around him, out of nothing, from nowhere. It smelled like a strange combination of metal and fresh rain, like blood being washed away after war. Loki straightened, closing his eyes and inhaling softly; he knew this smell all too well. It was the sent that lingered with magic…Finally she had arrived.

"How kindly of you to finally show up, Amora."

A woman appeared behind him from the shadows, pale with matching ash blonde hair. She looked weary, but held a strong demeanor. "I could not pass on such an invitation. However you made this place hard to find even with my magic."

Loki smirked, "Indeed." He turned around to look at her, from his position in front of the fire; his figure cast an eerie shadow over the floor. She was standing by one of the two black leather couches, looking at him challengingly. She was alone. Loki scanned the room around them for the other being, her partner, the monster of a man, Skurge.

"Where ever is your precious body guard Amora? Or did he leave you unattended?" Just then something moved within the shadows of the far wall, a massive figure stepped forward behind Amora, stopping by her side. Loki smiled coldly at the tattooed covered warrior, "Ah…There he is."

"Why have you summoned me Loki?" Amora walked forward, her movements almost cat-like. Loki looked back to her and widened his smile.

"Out of selfish reasons, I assure you. I have a score that needs settling, and I require your assistance."

Amora looked at him questioningly, "What is this score?"

Loki gestured over to the couches for her to take a seat. The two moved over and sat down on the black couches, facing each other over the small coffee table that stood between them. Loki leaned in, resting his elbows on his knees and observed her for a brief moment before he spoke. "I seek retribution for the actions inflicted upon me by an assemblage known as the Avengers… I called upon you, Amora, because you seek a new purpose, and here I present you with one. Help me to destroy them, and all your debts to me will be paid."

Amora smiled, and too leaned in. "Poor Loki, unfortunately a new purpose does not have high enough benefits for me. There must be something else you can offer me that will be worth my time…" Her eyes scanned over his body and then back up to meet his eyes again. They were dark, unmoved. And then his lips shifted, forming a wicked smirk. Loki leaned back into the couch and sighed, amused.

"My dear, you seem to think that you have a choice in the matter. But I assure you, it is quite the opposite. You see, your commitment to me is unchanging whether you like it or not…" His tone darkened. "As you recall, it was I who saved you from rotting in the prisons of Asgard and upon that you swore in your very blood that when I would call upon you to repay your debt, you would be there to answer to me. Well…I have called…And now you will answer."

"Damn it JARVIS, not so tight!"

My apologies, sir.

Tony winced as his arm tensed up inside the incomplete gauntlet for Mark X. "Why did I leave you in charge of adjusting the vertical grip? Here, give me that." He reached out with his free hand and grabbed the screwdriver from the small robotic arm, replacing it instead with a magnifying glass."Here, hold this up for me…There. No, no a little up. UP JARVIS! Excellent, there we go."

"Since when do people talk more to their machines than to the other guy in the room?"

Tony looked up from the unfinished gauntlet and turned slightly in his chair to get a better view of the scientist sitting on the other side of his workshop. "Since the invention of modern technology."

Bruce smiled, set down the book on molecular energy he was reading and stood up from the stool he perched on. "Oh right." His eyes shot up towards the clock just above the entrance, then quickly down to the watch on his wrist. Tony's eyes followed him, looking back up to the clock, 7:57 pm.

"Is there somewhere you need to be?" Tony eyed Bruce's outfit, a pale blue shirt under a dark grey blazer and dark jeans, nothing too out of the ordinary there. He didn't remember Bruce saying anything about having plans later that evening…Then again, Bruce was the modest type.

"Huh? Oh, no. Well, yeah actually, but I can wait a few more minutes." He smiled again this time weaker, however Tony did briefly catch a glimpse of...was that excitement in his eyes? That's odd, what reason did he have to be excited about? Did Bruce have some hot date he didn't tell Tony about?

"Alright big guy, just let me know if I'm holding you up from some lady caller or something." Tony looked back to Bruce who was holding back a smile, unsuccessfully. "No, nothing like that…"Bruce awkwardly fidgeted with his hands and went back to the book he had set down on the counter top. Tony smiled, "Really? Cus I hear women have a thing for shy guys with a wild side. And I mean, if size matters then…"

Tony jokingly shot Bruce two thumbs up. Even with Bruce's natural tan skin tone, Tony mused over the dark red that slowly manifested over the scientists face. Ever since the event involving the attempted destruction of New York earlier that year Bruce had taken up a permanent residence nearby and with all the reconstruction required on Stark Tower, Tony figured it would be more efficient to crash here instead of at the mansion. Half his belongings resided here anyways, and being in the city made for a nice change of scenery, plus Tony found it amusing when he would walk down the street for a coffee break and get served by a dumbfound teenager with a face that read "Jessica won't believe this shit!" Yep, the city was nice. And ever since the transition, he and Bruce spent a lot more time together, constructing new toys in Tony's workshop or helping Bruce research gamma radiation, or just getting side tracked in deep meaningless conversations, some funny, some serious. Either way, Tony felt in good company with his interesting friend.

Bruce chuckled nervously at Tony's comment and scratched the back of his neck, a nervous tick of his Tony noticed. "Yea, sex is great after I squash her into a pancake…" Tony's grin faded and was replaced by a smaller, sympathetic smile. "Sorry."

Bruce made brief eye contact before allowing his hand to fall back to his side and looked down at the gauntlet Tony was currently working on. "That's alright. I know you well enough to find your jokes amusing rather than offensive. Besides…" A small grin spread across his lips. "It's not like you're wrong."

There was a short pause of silence in the workshop, but it was soon interrupted by a snort coming from Tony that quickly evolved into laughter from both men. Once they had their moment Bruce let out a long sigh and looked back down at his watch then back at Tony again, this time with a spark of energy in his eyes. There was that damn excitement again, what was up?

Tony looked at him questioningly, expecting to get an answer as to what his evening plans were but Bruce only wiped his emotions away and went back to his naturally calm exterior. Damn that man's got control. But unfortunately it only made Tony more curious. He really wanted to know what was making Bruce antsy, but apparently the scientist wasn't about to give in. Why was he making such an effort to hide it from him? Hopefully there wasn't something wrong. On the other hand Tony was 98 % sure that Bruce wouldn't be excited if it were something bad. Or maybe Tony just misread the expression and it really was fear or anxiety rather than excitement. Maybe Bruce was in trouble. This was about to drive Tony mad. Maybe-

"Tony?"

Tony blinked. Had he zoned out? Instantly his eyes shot back up to meet Bruce whose face was slightly amused. Well that's a good sign Tony thought to himself and allowed himself to relax a bit. Tony cleared this throat. "Sorry, got a little lost in thought."

"Understandable." Bruce looked back down to his watch then back up to Tony, gesturing towards the door. "Its 8:10, walk me out."

Tony smirked at his friend. "I didn't hear a please." Bruce smiled, "Please?" Tony nodded and slipped his hand out of the gauntlet. "JARVIS I think I'm done for today, turn off the lights when we leave for me will you?" The calm, British voice filled the air around them.

Of course sir.

The two men left the room and walked silently up towards the elevator. Tony pressed the button and after a few moments furrowed his brows. It should not be taking this long to come down. But just as Tony was about to push the button again the doors opened and the two stepped inside. Tony was about to push the 1st floor but Bruce acted faster, reaching across Tony and pressing the top floor penthouse instead. Tony looked over at him questioningly. "You okay bud?" Bruce straightened his blazer and looked ahead, "I forgot something in the kitchen."

Tony thought back through the day, from when Bruce arrived until now. It's true they moved between floors once or twice, but they never went to the penthouse… They never went to the penthouse. There is no reason why Bruce would need to go up there unless…Tony froze. Fuck. What day was it again? Wasn't yesterday the 28th? That would mean…

"Bruce?"

"Tony?"

Tony shifted his whole body to face him and studied him suspiciously. "Is today the 29th?"

Bruce swallowed hard but looked over nonchalantly meeting his eyes. "Maybe. I don't know, why?"

Nerves filled up in Tony's stomach, how could he fucking forget? Was Bruce really this good at distracting him? The elevator neared the top.

"Well, the 29th…is my birthday." A soft *ding* filled their ears and the elevator slowed to a stop.

"Mmhmm.." Tony noticed Bruce fidgeting with his hands again. Nerves. Anxiety. Excitement. This could mean one of three things. 1, the boundaries between monster and man had finally cracked and Bruce was slowly loosing it. 2, Bruce had gone mental and was dragging Tony up here to a secluded area to murder him… Or 3… A birthday party.

Please god be 1 or 2.

There were many things he hated in the world and a day dedicated towards reminding him that he's closer to death was one of them. Furthermore he hated surprises, and he sure as hell didn't plan himself a party so that means…

The doors opened up into a pitch black room.

"You…asshole."

All at once the room roared with what sounded like an army shouting in unison "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY!" light's flew on exposing an enormous crowd of faces Tony didn't have time to focus on, his heart was pounding too rapidly and he felt like screaming back in fear. No he felt like running away WHILE screaming in fear. He felt like punching Bruce in the fucking face was what he felt like, and himself for not seeing this coming sooner. How could he forget about his own fucking birthday?!

Tony gasped and wrapped his arms around his torso in a protective manner; he didn't care if it looked weak, and fuck everyone who thought so. The crowd erupted with various forms of cheers and laughter, including Bruce who was now grinning hysterically next to him and reached out to pat his back for support.

Out of the sea of faces emerged a peppy redheaded Pepper looking both apologetic and delighted at the same time. She wore a short white dress and had her hair down, which was a rare sight. In fact, she looked fantastic.

With a gentle push Bruce guided Tony towards the people still laughing and cheering all wearing the same overly expressed smile, it kind of reminded Tony of being at a psychotic dentist's office…and he was the dentist being smiled upon as all his patients tried to show him their teeth. The thought in itself made Tony smile with amusement and he allowed his arms to drop back down to his sides. Somewhere in the background a Black Sabbath record began playing which further added to his rising comfort level. He could hear Bruce start to chuckle lightheartedly next to him now too, and remembered his previous desire to punch him in the face. He looked over at him and was just about to say something clever and witty when a blur of red hair attacked him out of nowhere making him freeze in fear for the second time.

"I'm sorry Tony, I know you hate surprises but you should have seen your face, it was priceless Tony, seriously no amount of money could have bought a better reaction. Please don't fire me."

"You're fired."

Pepper leaned out of the hug and looked at Tony. Her face was dripping with an expression that said "I declare bull shit." And she smiled and let go of Tony looking back into the crowd and shouted "I think we got him!" to which another wave of cheers erupted in response.

Bruce stayed behind while Pepper led Tony out onto the floor to mingle with the eager guests. Tony followed, putting as much charm as he could muster into his greetings after that awkward intro. Still, after a short amount of time he lost interest in being too charming, who were these people anyways? Looking around the room Tony didn't recognize a single one besides 5 clients, Bruce, Pepper and a two women who looked familiar so he'll just say he's slept with them. On top of that, no one really seemed to stand out...

Someone caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Tony looked to his left past a small group of women; all obviously buzzed and obnoxiously loud, to where a woman stood alone from the others.

She was so far beyond beautiful; it almost felt surreal, like looking through a filter. Tony couldn't help but stare. The woman was tall and thin with small curves that were perfectly complimented by an elegant chestnut dress which hung from her shoulders, leading into long sleeves and an irresistibly low draped back. Her figure was turned just slightly to the side, silhouetting her alluring frame for Tony to see. Slowly his eyes danced over her dress leading up to her porcelain skin, to her ash blonde hair that was almost as white as her shoulders, and her soft pale lips then to her brilliant, olive eyes…which were looking right at him…shit.

Tony tried to recover himself and smiled as charmingly as prince fucking charming. Hopefully she'll just think he's eccentric and not a complete psycho. But to his relief the woman tilted her head slightly in curiosity, flashing him a coy smile.

"Tony you okay?" Pepper walked up and lightly taped his shoulder breaking the moment. He turned quickly and looked at her. "Yea! Well, no, yes, both. What's with the party Pep? You know me better then to freak me out without warning. Why didn't you tell me? I could have played along. And who ARE these people?" Tony briefly gestured around the room again his eyes glancing back to the woman before going back to Pepper who smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Tony, you can't act worth shit, I've seen you try, and these people are your friends!"

"I don't have friends Pepper."

"Ouch." Tony turned around to see that Bruce had walked in out of nowhere, joining their conversation. He was holding a glass of ice water and a smile that made Tony roll his own eyes.

"I rest my case."

Bruce let his smile slip slightly and sighed, "Since when am I not your friend Tony?" Tony looked over to the bar which held the nearest clock and then back to Bruce, "Since 14:43 seconds ago."

"Okay..." A smile crossed over Bruce's face as he looked at Tony in confusion and amusement, like an adult would a funny toddler. "And why is that exactly?"

"You betrayed me and didn't tell me about…" Tony made a wild hand gesture with playful irritation, "THIS!"

Bruce smirked. "That would defeat the purpose of a surprise birthday party."

Tony's eyes glanced around the room again as if to judge it, but his eyes fell back on the woman still standing alone, gently swirling her wine glass. But before he could let himself get too distracted he turned his head back to Bruce.

"Well Fan-fucking-tastic! I hate surprises."

All of a sudden a voice rang out from directly behind Tony making him almost leap out of his skin. "You sure chose a strange fitting lifestyle for a man who can't handle surprises." A large smile spread over Bruce's face and Pepper's hands clasped together in joy. "Steve! Glad you could make it!"

"Oh you invited the living Ken doll too?" Tony whirled around faster than intended and almost smacked his face into Steve's but was saved when Rodgers took a smooth step backwards and smiled. Tony however did not feel like returning the smile, yet.

"Stark…"

"Captain…Strange seeing you without our country vomited on your attire. I have to say, I don't miss it."

Steve tensed for a quick second then relaxed and looked around to Pepper and Bruce. "Well I got to agree with you on that one. To be honest I'm rather grateful for the slack Director Fury's given us…" He paused for a moment then returned his eyes to Tony and smiled again, "It feels good when the only suit you have to worry about involves a button up and a tie."

Tony opened his mouth to respond but just as he did another voice stole the words straight out from his mouth.

"You can say that again." Clint emerged from behind a group of people followed by a gorgeous Natasha. Both spies wore almost all black, except for Clint's dark blue tie. Natasha wore a short slim fitting silk dress with simple black heels, and Clint matched her style almost perfectly with a tight black button up shirt. If Tony didn't know better he would have thought they were on a mission right now.

He turned back and shot Pepper an irritated look, "Jesus Pepper where do you find these people? Were they all invited? Don't tell me, is Thor going to bust out from my cake wearing Madonna's Cone Bra?"

Pepper returned Tony's glare then smiled apologetically at the others. "Ignore him, he's just upset that he's getting old."

"I'm not upset, I am simply still recovering from a small heart attack because you thought it would be funny to surprise scare me to death, and who the hell said I was getting old?!" For a few short seconds Tony thought this over. He wasn't getting that old was he? It's not like his age should bother him even if he were, he's fit, not extensively so, but still he's in good shape. Plus he's got a handsome head of dark hair which is a good benefit…and what the hell; being a billionaire and worldwide superhero doesn't hurt either.

No, Tony's fear of aging wasn't completely rooted in vanity. Maybe he feared it because it was a sign that the world was always changing, ready to bring on new challenges to face, new problems to solve…and new demons to fight. And maybe with each year Tony felt himself stretch a little thinner as the realization began to hit him that, too soon, something or someone would finally break him.

His eyes scanned the room around him out of nervous habit and back over to where the woman was standing before, she had moved slightly closer. Her pale skin and hair glowed under the dim lighting, she looked stunning, but there was something eerie about her presence. It was almost…frightening.

His thoughts were interrupted by the small chorus of laughter coming from around him. Thank god, he didn't really want to fall down that dark train of thought right now. Pepper was snickering into her glass as her eyes darted between him and Natasha, had they been talking to him still?

"…after all you're only older to people younger than you, which I suppose is just about everybody." Natasha sent him a mocking wink and the group filled with laughter. So they were making fun of him. Clint stepped forward and slapped Tony on the back with a smile, "Aww don't be upset Tony! Steve here's still older than you."

The two men looked over at Steve whose face read slight irritation and discomfort, and Tony allowed himself to smile. "That's right, when did we get off the topic of making fun of Steve?" Next to him Tony heard Clint begin to chuckle. Steve sent the two men a disapproving look, his eyes resting back on Tony, "So for once Tony Stark doesn't want all the attention for himself?"

"One could make the same argument for your previous fashion statements. Are stars and stripes in this year?" Tony flashed Steve a crooked grin and raised his eyebrows. He had missed this playful bickering. But to Tony's disappointment Steve was not in the mood to quarrel and instead returned his jab with a whole hearted, slightly sarcastic, smile. "It's good to see you Tony."

Tony felt his lips stretch a little thinner as his smile grew too, "Likewise. After all, it's nice having people I can converse with at my own birthday party…Pepper."

Pepper turned sharply to face Tony in playful irritation, "WHAT Tony? So what if these people are…well mostly clients? You don't socialize enough! Besides you should be thanking me for wanting to celebrate your birthday, and thank Bruce for getting a hold of them for you."

Bruce, that's right; the evil backstabbing scientist. Bruce was standing quietly in between Clint and Natasha, lightly examining his beverage, and looked up surprised when Pepper brought him back into the conversation. All eyes now fell to him, so he smiled weakly and cleared his throat, "Yea, it was nothing really. SHEILD actually kinda freaked out when it was me approaching them rather than the other way around…They practically handed me Steve's personal information on a silver platter."

Steve furrowed his brows, "Well that's reassuring…"

Normally Tony wouldn't have given a fuck that Steve's personal information got easily hacked, however something clicked in Tony's mind.

"So Fury lied?" All eyes were back on Tony now. "He told me we were going off record, that SHEILD wouldn't be keeping tabs on us anymore. We did just save the world from an alien invasion right? Didn't he promise us slack?" Tony knew better then to hold Fury to every word, but he had hoped that this promised break of freedom was something he could count on; well…he has been wrong before.

Natasha spoke up soothingly, "He's not on a large scale. Only important or necessary details like an address in case we need to get in contact again." She made eye contact with Steve, "Don't worry captain we have them secured in our privet files, no one is getting a hold of any information we don't want them to."

Steve nodded once and the group all seemed to relax again. Natasha smiled back at Tony, "Besides, it's not like you live a life of solitude Stark, I'd be surprised to find a New Yorker who hasn't heard of Stark Tower before, so you already have nothing new to worry about."

Tony contemplated this, "True, true. However the asshole did blatantly lie to me, and that hurts my feelings."

The group shared in a small silence before Clint spoke up with a confused look on his face. "What freaks me out is that our agents gave you Steve's info so damn…nonchalantly. Did they at least run any background info or DNA tests to know who you were?"

Bruce smiled and looked back down at his glass, "They looked at my license."

"Well that's a fucking relief!" Clint's voice rose, filled with sarcasm. "At least we aren't serving any alcohol to minors!"

Alcohol. That's what Tony was missing. Had he really gone over 30 minutes dry at his own party?

His eyes darted over to the bar, surprised when he saw that the woman had moved and was now leaning against it talking enthusiastically with the bartender. Her intense demeanor was greatly softened with a small smile that danced across her lips, Tony really wanted to know what they were talking about, it looked like the best conversation in the world.

Tony cleared his throat, "Speaking of alcohol, I could use a drink, anyone else?" He looked around at the group.

"I'm good." Bruce raised his glass of water in a gesture of thanks.

Tony's eyes moved forward onto Natasha whose face was cold and expressionless, "Anything strong on the vodka, you know this, I'm Russian. Or I once was."

Tony smiled, "The Russian wants vodka, anyone else?"

Pepper and Steve both smiled and each said their own version of "no thank you". Tony's eyes finally rested on Clint who looked grateful, "I'll come with you."

"There we go." Tony smiled and the two men began to make their way over to the bar, but Tony paused briefly and looked back at Pepper.

"Hey Pepper, you should show Steve here around the tower. He did after all refer to it as a…What was it again 'Big ugly building'? And since it is still 12% your baby I thought you should have the honor of proving him otherwise."

Pepper rolled her eyes and Tony sent her a wink, not even looking over at Steve who had turned a dark shade of red. Oh yes, Tony remembered. And with that he and Clint made their way across the overly crowded floor towards the bar.

Disclaimer: I did not invent the Avenger.

Claimer: THE STORY IS MINE.

This chapters Homework Assignment: Choose one: 1) Draw Loki conversing with Amora. 2) Draw Tony's reaction to the party.