August 27, 2012, Stark Tower, Manhattan

'Oh crap.'

Loki chuckled, pushing himself up in the bed and looking across at his roommate. He had been awake a while, waiting for the other to wake up. Clint was pushing the heel of his hands into his eyes and groaning. The two had been put together after the first week, their nightmares keeping the rest of the tower's occupants awake. It wasn't that their friends didn't want to help, it was more that they believed it would be easier if they were in the same room. Kindred spirits and all that. The two had become rather close, as had everyone staying in the Tower.

'What was it this time?' Loki said, standing up and grabbing clothes from the wardrobe. He had been wearing civilian clothes until today, clothes Stark had given him. Today however, he was going home and needed to look the part of a prince.

'Sophie.' Clint said, running a hand over his face. 'Dragging her onto the jet but she was hurt, properly hurt and I didn't care. You?'

Loki chucked a red shirt at Clint, pulling on his own Asgardian clothes. He hadn't made any sign of having a nightmare but of course Clint knew. 'Thor in the cage, falling. Worse part is I felt happy about it.'

Clint shrugged, getting up himself and getting ready. They were either the first or the last up, there never seemed to be an in between. 'You going to be alright? Back home?'

'Oh, Agent Barton are you worried about me?'

Clint rolled his eyes, catching the boot Loki threw at his face. After four months sharing a room, he had gotten used to the Aesir and their stupid routine. Wake up, complain, throw things at each other, pretend they weren't fond of each other. 'Of course, you idiot. But do you think they'll blame you, for what happened?'

'Possibly.' Loki shrugged, opening the blinds. Light flooded the room, Clint blinking quickly. 'There'll be a trial though. You might be called to testify.'

'Why me? Can't Thor do it?'

Loki shook his head. 'They'll argue Thor is too personally involved. Although they might think you...'

'I what? I'm not biased at all.'

'Yeah, about that.' Loki said, biting his lip. He was about to continue when Clint shook his head, cutting him off.

'If it's about the memories, it's fine. The things I know about Asgard, about your family, it can't make that much of a difference, can it.'

Loki sighed but nodded, sitting back down on his bed. Clint sat down opposite him, tying up his boots. 'I still have something to tell you.'

Clint shrugged, passing Loki his leather overcoat. 'Tell me later. When Asgard likes you again and you've got all those injuries healed.'

Loki nodded again, feeling slightly annoyed about how much he had come to care about this human in only a few short months. He supposed it was to be expected; he became a father at a relatively young age and Clint reminded him more of his children, of Jormungandr and Sleipnir especially, than any other person he had ever met. Caring for the archer came naturally to the god.

'Come on.' Clint said, standing up. He, too, worried about his growing attachment to the other. He was a spy, an assassin, he wasn't supposed to get attached. He already had his daughter and his best friend, he couldn't form some strange parental bond. 'Nat'll murder me if I'm late to breakfast.'

'Pass the flour.'

Steve handed it over absentmindedly, focusing on the bacon and eggs he had cooking. Hel was making pancakes, the potato cakes and waffles already finished.

'Who taught you to cook?' He said, still focused on the food. The two had agreed the night before to make breakfast for the others but Steve hadn't known how well the goddess could cook. Normally, everyone made their own food so no one knew how good anyone else was at cooking. She was dressed in her traditional Asgardian robes, long, green and flowing. 'Not Loki, I'm guessing.'

Hel shook her head, smiling slightly. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, annoyed it had slipped from the complicated bun of braids held at the top of her head. She and Kia had put a lot of effort into making each other look regal. Hel's do was more complicated, simply because the other two girls had arrived at that moment, offering their assistance. 'My mother taught me. Plus, there are plenty dead cooks around.'

'True.' He said, leaning around her to grab the spatula. He went to force himself not to blush as he had to press against her to reach it but found he didn't have to. No blush came to his face, just a small smile, as if the action was completely natural and in no way embarrassing. 'But seriously, don't you have like servants to make you food?'

Hel laughed, flipping a pancake up and catching it with a plate. She had already gotten a good stack and only had a bit of the batter left. 'Not really. In Asgard we did but I run Helheim a bit differently. People do the jobs they did in life, mostly, and I keep myself separate apart from training the army and looking after those between life and death.'

'You do that by yourself?' Steve said, spooning a couple dozen fried eggs onto another plate and placing it on the counter.

Hel shrugged, her face hardening slightly. Steve wondered if he had struck a nerve. 'Narfi helps. Most of them are only there for a few days or so, anyway. It never gets too busy.'

'Do all the dead go to Helheim?' Steve said, putting the bacon on a separate plate.

'The majority do.' Hel said, finally finishing the pancakes and turning off the stove. 'But many get offers of Valhalla. Warriors, saints, just good people, many get to go to paradise. The rest end up with me, to suffer for all eternity.'

'I'm sure its not that bad.' Steve said, smiling as they both sat down at the table and made sure everything was ready. 'Can you contact any of the people in Valhalla?'

'No.' Hel said, picking up a plate and spooning food onto it. 'I don't even know if they have a leader. Once someone has gone to Valhalla, they are lost to the world forever. At least I can take messages from my people.'

'So.' Steve said slowly, helping himself to food. 'When you're there, I've got no way of contacting you?'

Hel nodded, pushing her food around the plate. 'I can visit though.'

'But I might not be in the same place.' Steve said, lips pursing. He pulled something out of his pocket, handing it over to her. 'This is a STARKphone. I've got one and so do most of the others. It's got everyone's numbers and we've all got yours. If you're ever back on Earth, give me a ring.'

She grinned, holding the phone tightly and patting Steve's hand with her free one. The two smiled at each other, tucking back into their breakfast.

Lizzie grabbed two plates, piling them with food and walking back to the main dining room. No one wanted to stay in the kitchen, where Steve and Hel were doing some of the most awkward flirting they had ever seen. So Lizzie had grabbed for her and Thor, setting the plate down in front of him and pulling the STARKpad closer to her.

'You really think this could happen?'

Thor had drawn out plans for several possible attacks on Earth, pointing out the planets inferior spacecrafts. Tony had left the room then, probably to go make a spaceship. Pepper had rolled her eyes and followed him out, although she was probably heading back to bed. She didn't need to go to the park, although everyone had extended the invitation to her. Dr. Selvig had also declined, once he realised Loki was being treated as a friend, rather than an enemy.

The plan on the screen in front of Lizzie was a full barrage, people deciding to attack everywhere at once, rather than arriving at singular point like New York.

'If they had a big enough army. If Xandar, the Kree Empire or even just the Ravagers wanted to, they could easily take out Earth.'

'Would they?' Lizzie said, taking a bite of toast.

Thor shrugged. 'None of them have reason to. But the Ravagers are outlaws and there are many like them. You would do well to set up some sort of shield.'

Lizzie shook her head. 'Even if congress approved it, the UN would never let America set a shield around the whole world. And the WSC would never be able to agree to it, the logistics are too complicated.'

Thor's eyes narrowed and he swallowed his food. 'So you cannot protect your planet, because of politics?'

Lizzie nodded, pulling a face. It was dreadfully annoying. 'Will Asgard help us in future fights?'

'If I have any say, they will.' Thor said, as if there was no room for error. He looked up slightly when Loki and Clint walked past, headed for the kitchen. His conviction faltered a bit when he spoke next. 'But, father might not give me a say. He may be content to just lock Loki up and ignore the danger Midgard faces.'

'He'll lock Loki up?' Lizzie said, reducing her volume as said god sat down at the other end of the table, laughing with Clint. They both looked up as Hel and Steve joined them, all four chatting amicably. 'But he's innocent.'

'Of the crimes here, yes, but Loki almost destroyed an entire realm before. He had his reasons but father will imprison Loki to save face.'

'Doesn't sound like a very good leader, if you ask me.'

'The Allfather is very wise and very powerful. I fear that someone like that makes decisions that most people can't understand.'

'Well, if he can't make decisions his people understand and agree with, he shouldn't be king.' Lizzie said, her gaze hardening. The group had had several long debates in the course of their four months in the tower but that was one point Lizzie had never budged on.

Thor sighed, taking both of their empty plates and standing up. When he returned from the kitchen, his face was cheerless. He sat down next to Lizzie but said nothing, pulling the STARKpad towards him again. Realising he wasn't going to say anymore, Lizzie stood, walking down the room towards her grandfather.

'What evidence do have? Can you prove Loki's innocence?'

'I have no concrete evidence, no, because the magic has gone. But I do have the testimonies of others who were under the stone's control.'

'Loki's control, you mean. How do we know they're still not being controlled by him?'

'Well, I have other witnesses, character witnesses, who can attest to that. Besides, there is no magic clinging to them.'

'Okay. One last question, Thordortir, how do we know you're not under Loki's control?'

Kia's face dropped and she squinted at the other. 'My grandfather wouldn't ask that.'

Sophie tilted her head to the side, flipping her hair over her shoulder. The Asgardians had pulled it into a nine-strand braid and she was getting annoyed of it falling to the side. If she had time, she would run and grab some clips. 'He might not. But you did say that some of the people trying him might do anything to get Loki convicted. Wouldn't it be great for them if they found him guilty of possessing the Crown Princess?'

Kia huffed, leaning forward to eat some bacon. The two had set themselves up in one of Stark Tower's many living rooms. Kia had mentioned that Loki could be standing trial and Sophie had offered to prepare her for it.

'You know, they might call you to bear witness.'

Sophie's eyebrows furrowed and she leant back on the sofa, spread out as she picked at the food in her bowl. She'd chosen to chop up half a dozen fruits and smother them with yogurt, rather than eat the food Steve and Hel had made. She used to live on a couple of cereal bars a day, she wasn't in the mood for bacon.

'Why would they do that?' She said, biting on half a grape.

'Like I said, I need character witnesses.' Kia said, eyes calculating. She had planned most of what she was going to say already, her uncle's defense perfectly formed in her mind. If she knew her grandfather, the trial itself would be held off for several months, but be over in a few hours. Odin liked to make people worry and to give himself plenty of time to prepare. One was not considered omniscient by improvising. 'I'll call Clint to discuss Loki's actions during and after the battle and I'll call you as a character witness. I'll also call Dr Selvig, as he was the most informed of what Loki was doing with the Tesseract, and call Dr Foster as his character witness.'

'But he still thinks Loki's responsible.'

'That's what Dr Foster's for. She'll explain that he's not quite in the right frame of mind. Everything will be fine.'

'If the prosecution lets you call that many witnesses.'

'If they let me call that many witnesses, yes.' Kia sighed, leaning her head on the back of the chair. 'Or if there even if a prosecution. Odin might just lock him up and be done with it.'

'Do you think he would?' Sophie said, sitting up. She placed the bowl on the table, studying Kia closely. 'That's his son.'

'His adopted son.' Kia pointed out. 'Who wasn't well liked among Asgard's nobility.'

'Why ever not?' Sophie said, smirking slightly. Her father, walking past, tugged on her braid and Loki, behind him did the same thing. 'I couldn't possible think of a reason.'

Kia smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

The top seventeen floors of Stark Tower had been deemed too dangerous to anyone to even set foot in, the chances of the roof caving in too high. All the other floors were considered safe, if only because Tony had set up extra supports on the eighteenth floor down. Above that floor, the Tower was considered a death trap.

Of course, that didn't mean no one was up there.

'How long before they notice?' The one on the floor of the roof said, not even lifting his head.

'Probably when they activate the portal and you're not there.' The other said, lounged out on a sofa. The two had moved it to the open air weeks ago, enjoying the summer sun.

'Very likely.' Fen said, yawning as he stretched his legs out. 'But you'd think they'd remember the wolf.'

'Eh.' Bruce shrugged, draping a hand over his eyes. 'You'd be surprised how many times James forgot about me. Even when I was the Other Guy.'

The wolf laughed. 'Do you think he'll be okay? On his own I mean?'

'He can look after himself.' Bruce said, sitting up to rub sleep from his eyes. He had woken up early, possible too early, to help out in the slums one last time. When he returned, Fen had been trying to get food without waking anyone. He had helped the wolf eat, gotten some food for himself and gone upstairs. The two were completely ready to go, although that didn't take much in Fen's case. 'Besides, Tony's setting him up with a place to stay and everything.'

Fen turned his head, staring at the humanoid. 'But you're still worried?'

Bruce raised an eyebrow. 'Wait til you have kids, then you can judge me for worrying about my ten year old.'

'He's almost eleven.'

'He's three months from being eleven, let me baby him.'

Fen shrugged. 'Just don't let him hear you doing it. If Da tried to treat me like a kid, I'd bite his ear off.'

They both winced, Fen wanting to wish the words back into his mouth. Finally Bruce, laying back down, narrowed his eyes in Fen's direction.

'So your dad let you out on your own? Even when you were ten?'

'Not on my own, I was with Kia. Plus, Heimdall was always watching her, if not me.'

'Not you?' Bruce frowned. He had heard a lot about this Heimdall from Thor, who made him sound like a fair, kind watcher. Why he would watch one child but not the other was baffling. 'Why?'

'I bit him once.' Fen admitted, sheepishly. If wolves could blush, Fen would be. 'I don't think he's gotten over it.'

Bruce laughed, tilting his head as he felt the air shift slightly. Fen stood up, much more attuned to feeling the magic than Bruce was. Loki and his children had been teaching the group how to recognise magic and the god had even been seen trying to teach Clint and Sophie a few spells.

'Sister.' Fen said, as Hel stepped out of the shadows.

'Brother. Are you ready?' Hel said with a smirk.

'We were actually waiting for you.' Bruce pointed out, swinging to his feet. Fen laughed at Hel's shocked expression, following him downstairs.

'So I want Thor in the top floor, set him up with a landing pad and everything. All the appliances will have to be reinforced, in case he breaks something.'

'Include a gym on that floor?' James said, taking notes. Tony had several times read these plans out to him, changing them each time, then asked him to relay them back. James wanted to prove he was listening, as every time he hadn't, he'd lost desert privallages. 'Or possibly a lab for Dr Foster if she stays round?'

'Go with the second. Thor will be delighted if we do that. Okay, so make Thor's bed a king size and add a guest bedroom.'

'Right then, next?' James said, boredom clear in his voice.

Tony flicked to the next floor. He had finalised all the plans with Pepper and just needed to run over them with James, who would be staying in New York to oversee the rebuilding. Tony had even managed to find the kid a job and an apartment to stay in while he was there. 'Kia's next, similar thing. Try and get higher ceilings and bigger rooms. Loki says she can get a bit claustrophobic.'

'Big windows then.'

'Or no windows at all.' Tony smirked. 'Legolas is next, he probably wants an archery range. Order in a loud of bows and trick arrows as well. Ooh, see if you can program the targets.'

'I'm not great with computers.'

'I didn't mean you, you do it. Get someone else to do it and claim the credit.'

'Really?'

'No, that's rude.' Tony said, poking his tongue out. James looked disappointed, like he was genuinely thinking of taking the credit. 'Cap's next. He could do with a gym. And an art studio, now I think about it, with a great view of the city. Make sure the heating is always up there.'

'And the opposite for the next one, right? That's Lizzie's floor.' James said, not looking up from what he was typing.

'Yep, it'll need gymnastics equipment and possible a fencing room. See if you can get some more swords for her.'

'Right. Then it's Howie's correct? A small lab and plenty of books, plus vents running through the ceilings.'

'Yep, even if don't get it, he loves small places. Then mine, there's already schematics for that, its fine. The Loki, Fen's and Hel's floors. Just make them big, lots of space for magic and guest rooms in case their siblings turn up. Make sure Loki has a double bed.'

'Plus easy access for a wolf.'

'Everything should be easy access for Fen.' Tony said with a flourish. 'Then Nat and Sophie's rooms. Gym for Nat and make sure Sophie has a technology room. I'd like her to be able to tinker with my stuff when I need it fixed.'

'Need a kid to fix your stuff.' James mocked with a sneer.

'Shut up, or I'll move you away from your girlfriend.'

James pulled a face at him as Tiny shut down the computer standing up. 'You and your dad are last, I'm sure you can figure our what you want. Remember to spread out the floors-

'-add in plenty of labs and communal spaces, place a jet pad on the roof, and make sure everyone had their own car. I know, you told me that dozens of times.'

Tony pouted, wrapping an arm around James' shoulders. It was more a mocking gesture than an affectionate one but James still grinned. 'Shut up kid. Now let's go say goodbye.'

The lowest floor of Stark Tower was supposed to be an engine room of sorts, filled with wires, piping everywhere and systems that monitored everything from heating to amount of sunlight let in. However, as most of those things could be controlled by JARVIS, no ever went down there. So Howie had used it as his room, when he and Tony had first moved to New York.

Despite everyone else being awake on the upper floor, Howie was still asleep, mattress squashed between two boilers. At the end of the mattress was a small table, bearing Howie's prosthetics and several other gadgets. The boy was sprawled out across the bed, only not touching the boilers because his right arm didn't extend past his elbow.

'Wake up.'

The person at the end of his bed pursed her lips, glaring at Howie. As the first person completely ready, although several had thought they were until she had corrected them, she had been sent round to make sure everyone was awake. The rest of the group were waiting in the lobby.

'We'll go without you.' She said as he groaned. Natasha rolled her eyes, throwing the clothes she had grabbed from Howie's official room at his head.

He blinked slightly but just curled up, pulling the covers over his head. 'Go without me.'

'Kia and Fen are refusing. Get. Up.'

'No.' He said, copying her clipped tone. 'G'night.'

She shook her head, picking up the leg on the table and throwing it. It hit his back with a clang and he groaned again, turning around to look at her as she picked the hand up.

'Did you throw my leg at me?'

'Yes.' Natasha said, smiling. What she said next was a statement, not a question. 'Now, are going to come say goodbye to everyone or not.'

'Fine.' He groaned, pulling the clothes she had brought him on. He clicked his leg into place before pulling on the trousers, holding his left hand out to her. 'Give me the hand.'

She raised an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes, standing up and stepping over. He gestured to his unbuttoned shirt.

'Can't get dressed without it.'

She placed the metal appendix in his hand, sitting down on the bed. He glanced back at her, tapping some buttons on his arm once it was attached.

'I can get dressed on my own.'

'I know.' She smirked. 'I just making sure you don't go back to sleep.'

He blushed slightly, buttoning his shirt almost to the top. He discarded the tie, pulling the jacket around his shoulder and kneeling down to tie his shoelaces.

'You going to miss me?'

Natasha tilted her head. 'You asked me the last time I left.'

'And you didn't answer.' He pointed out, standing and holding a hand out. She allowed him to help her up, pressing a button on his palm. He cursed as one of the fingers came loose and glared at her as he fixed it in again. 'So, are you?'

'What do you think?'

She walked out ahead of him, not even to look back. Howie looked down at himself, nodding at the clothes she had picked out.

'Hurry up.' She said, voice floating over the room.

Howie rolled his eyes, following after her. 'She's so going to miss me.'

A/N: The first part of two. This story will be finished in about a week then I should be updating the little avengers version on IM3. I start uni in the start of October so it might take some time to figure how to upload things when I'm there/ get organised/ whatever. Hopefully this two-shot should tide you over.