The little girl stared wide-eyed at the people smiling kindly back at her. Loki, now recovered from the flu, was sitting on the couch, watching the child as she took in the room in front of her. He noticed that her hand tightened around Pepper's, but she didn't seem afraid. She did hide behind peppers leg, and Loki remembered he had done that so many times as a child with his mother. She was small for a five year old in his opinion, with brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a red ribbon in her long hair. A massive smile was plastered on her face.

"Auntie tells me you guys are superheroes. Is that true?" She said eventually.

Steve smiled and walked toward her. He kneeled down in front of her so he was eye level with the child before responding, "Well, yeah we are."

Instantly the child's shyness seemed forgotten, and she peered out from behind Pepper and asked, "What is your hero name?"

"Captain America," Steve replied gently.

The girl looked around Steve and, with her wide blue eyes looked at Natasha.

"I'm the Black Widow. Just call me Spider though." The usually tense woman was smiling kindly.

Her gaze shifted to Bruce. "I'm, uh, Hulk?" he offered. She smiled politely and looked to Thor.

"I'm Thor."

She giggled softly and said, "That's a funny name."

"Is it now?" Thor grinned back at her.

"I'm Hawkeye." Clint introduced himself smoothly before she even looked at him.

"Hawky." The little girl repeated.

"Well, no but…" he started until he noticed her starting up at him her eyes wide and filled with awe. "Yeah," he murmured. "Hawky."

Just then Tony came around the corner. His hands were smeared with oil, and he was wiping them on a white towel and muttering to himself. He was working on a new project, and was so caught up in it; he didn't notice the little girl.

"Uncle Tony!" her soft voice rose into a shrill yell that caused Loki to flinch. Tony's head jerked up at the call and his glazed eyes focused on her for a moment. He didn't seem to recognize her. Then the cloudiness in his eyes cleared and he smiled, "Maddie!" he exclaimed happily.

Maddie broke away from Peppers hold and ran to him. Whether the girl noticed his dirty hands of not, she jumped right in his arms for a hug. He picked her up and smiled proudly. "Look how big you are!" he said.

Maddie then turned in his arms and addressed the avengers, "He's Iron Man, did you know that?"

"It's a good thing he decided not to keep his identity a secret." Loki muttered.

Maddie heard his remark and craned her neck, looking for who had spoken. When she saw Loki sitting on the couch, she wiggled out of Tony's arms ran over, and plopped on the couch next to Loki. He scooted away from her.

"Who are you?" she asked, scooting closer.

"Loki," he practically growled the word.

"You're pretty." She announced randomly.

Now, toughly uncomfortable, he cleared his throat and looked around the room. Everyone was staring at him. He scooted back further and muttered, "Thanks."

This didn't stop her though. She lunged forward and grabbed on to him. He gasped loudly and tried to push her off. She pulled him into a hug, her arms wrapped around his neck. He looked at Pepper in desperation.

"How do you remove it?" he begged. "Is there a command?" he tried to pry her off again, but it only induced ear splitting laughter from Maddie.

Now, everyone in the room was laughing. At him. Angry and hurt, his cheeks burned red and he managed to pry the child's hands off of his clothing. At the last second though when he was lifting her off of him she reached out and wrapped her fists up in his jet-black hair. Pepper then stepped in and picked her niece up easily. By the time she turned to apologize to Loki though, he had already slipped away, into the dark hallway, and into his room. He closed the door quietly behind him, but even then he could still hear them laughing. And that pissed him off.