Sif Meets the Avengers

Chapter 4

.*.*.*.*.

The night washed over New York City, blackening the sky and the many lights making it beautifully colorful.

Sif stayed inside, reading what was referred to as "Great English Literature" a great deal.

"Sif?" Natasha asked upon cracking the door ajar. "Hey."

"Hello." Sif greeted, turning the page of the book titled "Hamlet".

"Y'know, the boys went out. They might not be coming back for a while."

"They did not allow you to accompany them?"

"No. They said it's 'Guy's Night Out', strictly for guys only."

"Oh..."

"So, I was thinking, since you're an Avenger now, and since you're a girl...maybe we could have a Girl's Night Out."

Sif placed the book in her lap and stared at Natasha. "You mean...for us to...go out?"

"Yeah! And see the town!"

Sif looked a little puzzled. "But I know nothing about this town."

"NYC's got a lot to offer to a girl like you, Sif."

Sif placed the book on a table and rose from her chair. "Fine then."

"First thing's first. You need to change from your 'Warrior-Princess' attire ASAP."

Sif only looked down at her clothes. "Why?"

"Just roll with it."

Meanwhile, the guys were out playing poker.

"Okay...um...I'm gonna put out eight chips...and...$500." Tony said, putting up just that.

"I'll see your eight chips with nine, and $501."

"What? Steve! That is the most bullshit thing I've ever heard!" Tony complained.

"It's still allowed." Clint reminded.

"I do not understand this game. I thought you English people came up with games that were supposed to be fun." Thor commented, "This game makes me upset."

"Blondie's right. This is making me upset, too. Let's do something else." Tony said.

"Like what?" Dr. Banner asked.

"Hey boys~." Natasha said, approaching.

"Nat, what part of Guy's Night Out seems to be escaping you?" Tony asked, leaning on the table.

"And where is Sif? You left her alone?" Thor asked.

"No. Sif's here with me." Natasha answered, grinning broadly.

"Well stop being a damn Cheshire Cat and tell us where she is exactly!" Tony demanded.

"Tony, calm down. Dammit, you're just giving in to her game of 'agitate the guys'." Steve said, rolling his eyes.

"Sif! They want to see you!"

"I look ridiculous."

"No you don't! Come on!"

Sif emerged from the wall she was hiding behind.

Everyone at the table was too busy staring in utter shock to say anything.

She stood there, awaiting feedback. Natasha had dressed her in a yellow flowy tank top, very short denim shorts, and red 3½ inch heels. She had also straightened her long, blonde, usually curly locks.

"Damn." Tony said, letting a grin cross his lips, "You look even finer than you did before."

Steve and Clint nodded in agreement.

"Yeah Sif...you look like a modern New Yorker. The one's who attract major attention out of a crowd of people." Clint complimented.

"Well thank you...but...I'm not used to being the one everyone has their eyes on..."

"Thor, what do you think?" Tony asked, shoving the seemingly hypnotized God's shoulder.

"What? Oh...Um...Wow. I just...I do not know what to say. For the first time in a long time...I am speechless."

"In a good way or a bad way?" Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"In a good way, of course."

Sif smiled a little. It was the first smile that everyone 9excluding Thor and Natasha) have ever seen her pull of.

"So that's what you look like when you smile." Dr. Banner said, laughing a little.

Sif shrugged. "You have never seen it, have you?"

Tony shook his head. "You can bet your ass I haven't."

"Tony, you barely know Steve's smile." Natasha said, laughing.

"What're you laughing for? That's true."

Everyone laughed, except Tony, that is.

"Alright, take a picture. It'll last longer." Natasha giggled.

Tony and Clint took out their cameras, even though Natasha was joking.

Sif laughed as they took pictures of her.

"'Kay, Sif. Let's get you home. Bye guys."

"Bye." They waved to her.

Natasha and Sif walked down the night shrouded streets, the cold night air chilling them a little.

"You know, Thor seemed pretty impressed." Natasha recalled, laughing a little.

"Yes. I do not believe I've seen him that speechless a day in my life before."

"I wonder how Loki would have reacted."

"Loki would have died. Just laid there and died. We Asgardian women are not used to showing so much skin, so when we do, it is a very special moment." Sif informed.

"That must have been why Thor was so speechless like that."

Sif nodded. "Exactly. You are very smart."

Natasha laughed. "Oh please. A five year old could have pieced that together. Thanks, though."

"You are very welcome."

"Could you tell me a little more about where your from? Thor talks about it a lot, but I would love to hear it from a woman's point of view."

"Well, Asgard is definitely in a man's favor. Yes, women are very respected as those who deliver life, but yet, women are oh so very watched over. It's like we never get to go anywhere where 'protection' is not insured. I did not like living that way, so I snaked my way out of the house a lot. And that is how I met Thor and Loki. They were out in the palace gardens, playing and sparring-like little gods do- and my father was of course one of Odin's Lords, so I came to the gardens to see them. Sure, we had seen each other around before, but we had never really talked. Well, that changed when I came up and said hello. I asked if they would let me play with them and they were shocked. An Asgardian Lady? Wanting to play with them? They of course said yes, and I told them to treat me as if I were a god, like one of them. They were a little awkward at first..."

"But we accepted her. As one of our own kind, a god. And she enjoyed playing alongside us. She was different of course...no ordinary Lady. She was like one of the lords, and we eventually learned to treat her as one of us. My mother and father and her mother and father were furious at first. 'How could you allow Lady Sif to get dirty like that? How could you tackled her and treat her as if she were an Asgardian boy? We do not treat out women that way!' they complained to us. But eventually my father composed a plan. He said to her father, 'Sif is obviously not going to accept the life of a Lady, so let us do this. Let us make a warrior of her, train her with my sons to create Asgards very first female warrior.' Of course Asgardian Ladies were allowed to fight, but not to be warriors. Sif though, was the first. And that is only one of the things that made her special and unique, unlike all the other Ladies, who stayed locked up in their homes, watching the warriors train in the courtyard as they drank tea and chose a husband. No...she was there with us in the courtyard, and that, besides her beauty, is what made her so attractive to us warriors."

"That was beautiful,Thor." Tony said, sniffling and wiping away a tear. "Just beautiful. I wish Pepper and I had that kind of story." He put his head in Steve's shoulder.

"Of course there were obstacles. My father told Loki and I that we would be of proper age soon, and soon we would need to be selecting a wife. Of course, the first woman that touched both of our minds was Sif, but there was an issue. Sif was not supposed to be married. She was a warrior, not a proper Lady. And a prince had to choose a proper Lady. Father lined up plenty of beautiful Ladies, all of them gowned and dazzled from head to toe. But even as beautiful as they were, none of them were as beautiful as Sif. Sif, who never wore make-up, dresses, or did her hair specially. She was truly beautiful. When Father said 'take your pick of the finest Ladies in Asgard...we said no. None of them were what we wanted. He was shocked. 'What do you want, then?!' he asked us, I remember his exact expression. Full of anger and curiosity. I told him, 'Father. I want not one of these fair maidens standing before me. There is only one Lady fair enough to be my princess.' Loki said the same. We glared at each other. 'Who are these maidens? Tell me! I shall fetch them at once!' Father said. Loki spoke. 'There is only one maiden. Sif. We both desire Lady Sif...'"

"I remember him telling me how taken aback Odin was. 'What?! You both share interest in ONE Lady, and it just so happens to be the roughest Lady of all, Warrior-Lady Sif? They had both nodded. I was what they wanted. Odin dismissed them. 'My princes. Leave me to think. I shall be discussing this with Frigga!' Well, that he did, and they came up with this: they ask me who I wanted to marry. I had never figured out that they acquired feelings of that type for me, so I was shocked when Odin proposed this idea to me. I told him 'Sir...I know not of which one I want to marry...I knew not they loved me...so I never gave it thought. He said 'Okay then. They will compete for your hand, and in the end you will choose which one of my sons is best suited for you.'"

"She said okay. That was when it began. Loki had become my rival, and even though he is my brother, I had to show him no mercy. We competed in many ways: fights, capability contests, even appearance."

"Poor Loki. He didn't stand a chance in that one, I'd bet." Clint said, laughing a little.

Thor rolled his eyes. "Continuing, the final contest was probably the most crucial. We had to state to her why we wanted to marry Lady Sif. I can remember both speeches as vividly as possible. Loki went first. He bowed to her, 'Lady Sif...you are lovely. Though all these other maidens should be considered lovelier, you are the one who continues to amaze me. You are the one I want to marry because..."

"...you are the one who I can look at and see the true beauty shining forth, rather than materialistic beauty. Your beauty is real, and it shines more radiant than the sun. You and I belong together, Lady Sif.'"

"Wow." Natasha said, "If a man told me that I'd automatically choose him."

"Well, listen to what Thor had to say. He came up to me, kneeling as he looked into my eyes. He put his hand over mine. He spoke. 'Sif. You are by far the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on. You impress me more and more every day, and I don't know if, for the sake of my mind, that I can take much more. But I do not care. I want to be with you because you are brighter than anything. I love you..."

"...that single statement could never cover how my heart beats at a quicker pace when I see you. You are everything. The sun, the stars, the love of my life. And I will always, no matter what, be in love with you. Even if you choose Loki and I have to be betrothed to someone else. You will still be the one I love, Siffie."

Tony sniffed. "Oh God. That...wow. I could never tell Pepper that."

Clint laughed. "What a wonderful boyfriend you are."

Natasha cried a little. "Wow...That was...Oh my goodness..."

Sif laughed. "That's when I fell completely in love with him-"

"And that's when I became horribly angry." Loki interrupted.

Sif looked up. Loki was standing on the building adjacent to them.

"Loki!" Sif and Natasha screamed at identical times.