Avenger's Tower
May 5, 2013
In a darkened room, a figure snored, sleeping deeply; it was the perfect picture of utter peace. Suddenly, the rest was interrupted as a Megadeth song blasted through the room. It played for a few seconds, but then began to fade. The man started to move, rubbing his eyes.
"Jarvis, was that really necessary? I'm pretty sure you don't wake up any of the other Avengers that way."
"In fact, Agent Hall. I use this same method with Sir, as it's the only thing that will actually wake him up. However, he prefers AC/DC."
"Whatever," the man grumbled in annoyance, ruffling a hand through his messy hair. "Alright, what's happening? Why'd you wake me?"
"According to some emails I've perused, the White House will be calling you today. I assumed that you'd like to be awake and ready for their call."
"Oh, joy," Robert said flatly. He was not looking forward to that. "That's just great. I can't wait to see what stupidness this is going to be." He paused, dropping the sarcastic tone for a moment. "Got any ideas what it's going to be about?"
"No, Agent Hall. The emails were not specific in that regard."
"Oh wonderful, I love surprises."
"Your sarcasm is noted, Agent Hall."
With that, Robert got out of bed, took a shower, and got dressed in a simple shirt and a pair of jeans. He made his way upstairs, noticing that Clint, Bruce, Loki and Tony were already gathered, probably for exercise or target practice. By the way they were all relaxed, you wouldn't immediately realise they they had just won a fight against Dr. Doom when he sent his doombots out. However, the dark circles under their eyes and lack of sleep on their faces gave an indication.
"Morning there, sunshine," Barton greeted with a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.
"The dead have finally risen," Banner added.
"Fuck off, Barton and Dr. Banner, It looks like Tony's personality is finally rubbing off on you," Hall answered as he poured some coffee into his Stitch mug.
"We're all honored that you've decided to bless us with your glorious presence," Loki commented, joining in on the teasing.
"Don't get snippy with me," Robert shot back at Loki. He hadn't had enough sleep. "It's not my fault you froze the police cars and Natasha last night."
"Well if Iron-Klutz had been watching where he was flying, he wouldn't have hit me," Loki defended, glaring at him.
Tony looked like he was about to fire back, but Robert got his words in first. It was too goddamn early for this crap. "Okay, whatever, save it for the afternoon meeting," he grumbled before taking a breath and continuing. "Anyways, the reason I am up at this ridiculous hour is because Jarvis intercepted some emails concerning me. The White House is probably going to call today. He thought it would be best for me to be awake beforehand. Just remind me to tell Fury when he gets here if they haven't called by then, because you know that's when they'll call. And no, I do not have the slightest idea what they want."
The rest of the morning went by with a nice breakfast and civilised conversation.
Natasha finally turned up and joined everybody in the early afternoon Nobody brought up the fact that she had slept in late. Robert wasn't sure if it was because she had been accidentally frozen by Loki the previous night or because they just generally feared her reaction if any of them brought it up.
Robert thought back to what happened immediately after Natasha had been frozen Tony and Clint had attempted to defrost her with Thor's help and Robert had to stop them from melting her They knew she'd had to be thawed a little slower, but were acting on emotions. With Jarvis' advice, they'd been able to get her out of the ice cube before she had suffocated. She had thankfully suffered no side effects, but it drained her. Luckily, she wasn't mad. She knew it had been accident and didn't blame Loki. Regardless, Loki was very cautious in going near her now, wary of any retaliation.
Steve, on the other hand, did not deal with the freezing incident that well. He had a few PTSD flashbacks from when he crashed into the ice and lost 70 years of his life. He was still trying to work through those issues. Pepper, Betty and Robert all worked together to help him once they got back to the tower.
He pulled himself out of his thoughts. He needed to focus on today. Robert focused on work and found himself a few hours later working with Jarvis on the team's mission. He heard a knock on the door, and as he looked up he noticed who it was and waved him him.
"Hey, Thor. What's up? Everything okay? You've been quiet today."
"Yes, Hall, everything is fine. Or I believe it is, however… I am concerned about what might happen to my brother due to what happened last night."
"Oh, that. I wouldn't worry about it," Robert replied instantly, reassuring the gentle giant. "It is hard to control what happens on a battlefield. Things like this are bound to happen; you know that. Nobody was injured and I don't think Natasha holds a grudge against him. The worst I can see her doing is probably a good prank, but nothing more."
"Thank you, Hall. Your words give me comfort. I overheard you this morning, about this White House. Can you explain this to me?" Thor asked him earnestly.
Robert rubbed his a little and then started to explain as simply as possible the executive branch of the government. Thankfully Thor seemed to
"Well, you have to be a registered citizen of this country, over the age of eighteen, and have no felonies, the latter is more complicated," Robert informed him.
"So that means I will be allowed to vote, correct?"
Robert thought for a second, wanting to provide the correct answer. "That's right. You and Loki are citizens of this country, so yes, you're allowed to vote." Robert remembered that when he first met the two demigods, the government gave them citizenship.
"Ah, that is wonderful. I look forward to this glorious election event!" And with that, he left the room, leaving Robert just shaking his head.
"Why do I have a horrible feeling that this is going to end in disaster somehow?" he muttered to himself.
Later in the day, Fury and Hill showed up at the tower to go over the mission and other essential things. Fury knew about the White House's call from his extensive intel, So it was not a surprise when Robert's phone went off during a childish argument between Tony, Clint, and Fury. Robert slammed his hand on the table before he answered it, which silenced everybody.
"Hello. Speaking… Very well thank you, and yourself?… Yes, they are all present… Um, yes including Directors Fury and Hill… Really… Wow… Well, I guess if he says to come for dinner… Eight o'clock tonight, got it. Who's going to be there?... No shit… Okay then, well, we shall not disappoint… Have a nice day… Yes, goodbye."
As he hung up the phone, he rose from his chair and cracked his neck to the right. He glanced around the room and noticed that everyone was looking at him, obviously interested and curious.
"Well, that was the Chief of Staff. We are all invited- well, more like ordered-- to be there tonight at eight P.M. We will have dinner with the President, Secretary of State, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, along with the leaders of Mexico and Canada." As he finished speaking, pretty much everyone- with the exception Loki and Thor- was shocked. These were elites. Sure, Tony was used to dealing with the elite, but he hadn't even met the Secretary-General.
"I'm going to guess that they didn't tell you why?" Bruce asked hopefully.
"Nope. They didn't even drop a hint. I'm pretty sure it won't be that bad, especially considering they would have the top two people of the government in the same building," Robert replied.
"Well, I guess we should all get ready. Are we allowed to take plus ones with us?" Tony asked.
"Oh yes, we're allowed that as well," Robert answered while looking at Maria. They'd been taking things slow, but do always enjoy each other's company.
Maria turned her head and blushed a little. They hadn't gone a date in two weeks. The meeting came to a casual end and they all left to go and get ready.
Loki's POV.
Loki went into his apartment and closed the door. He felt intrigued about this dinner. He was curious to see how the leaders of this planet worked. His thoughts drifted onto a certain woman that he had been spending a lot of time with lately. Right on cue, he heard a knock on his door.
He waved his wrist a little and the door magically opened, and what burst in his room was a bubbly, happy, excited-about-political-science Darcy Lewis. "LOKI! Can you believe it? The White House! Isn't that awesome!"
"Well, I guess. I haven't decided to go or not. I am not one to be told what to do," he replied with disdain.
"Oh, really... Yeah, you don't like that, do you," Darcy responded, her mood deflated slightly.
"No, and do you know what I hate even more?" Loki asked leadingly, his face turned mean.
"Happy people?" she questioned as she took a step back, playfully concerned.
"No: disappointing my Lady," Loki stated, offering her a smile. "So yes, we are going."
"You fucking jackass! Okay, you got me good," she laughed as she leaned forward and hugged him.
Later that night, a Stark Industries's jet flew towards DC: Jane and Darcy were excited; Robert was asking Natasha and Clint not to please have weapons on them a because he didn't feel like filling out the paperwork. Pepper and Betty were reminding Tony and Bruce to behave and not hack into networks; Loki and Thor were asking Steve and Fury questions about the environment of the United States government; Maria was smiling at Robert who was sitting next to her, the two of them engaged in small talk; and finally, Steve was as excited as anyone- he was hoping to meet the President.
They finally landed at the airport and the excited team the luxury jet. There were three limos with armed Secret Service, police, and F.B.I. agents all waiting. Loki, Thor, and Bruce immediately became concerned. Robert quickly explained that they were simply security procedures; however, Thor and Loki didn't really understand- they could defend themselves.
"Okay, allow me to explain it in a different way." He started over, explaining more simply. "You two are foreign diplomats in the US, therefore they want to ensure that you are safe and protected during your visit." Thor and Loki nodded, accepting that answer
As they got into the limo, Tony, of course, had to make comments that his limos were better. Everyone just rolled their eyes at his pride and shook their heads in amusement. As they arrived at the White House, Thor was impressed by the security detail. Loki looked bored, but Darcy was extremely excited, as were Betty and Jane.
As Robert got out of the limo, he saw this group of individuals that were so were so different and strange, yet somehow had become a family . He had no idea when they stepped through the doors of the White House that it would lead to three people almost dying