A/N:

The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.


Lee held onto a plate as she sat next to Loki on the couch, Gabby on the other side, Steve and Clint sitting on a different couch. Clint about one minute of teasing in about Steve's new look before he proved that even skinny and bony Steve Rogers still remembered how to fight. And then they both got yelled at when Steve started to wheeze from his asthma. Now they both sat on the couch while they're partners doted on Loki. Who of course had no complaints.

The TV was on and they were waiting for the press conference to start. Chris came out with a couple of glasses and sat between Clint and Steve. "Did they confiscate the snacks?"

"Loki did," Clint told him. "And my girlfriend helped."

"My wife was a co-conspirator," Steve said, taking a glass of water form Chris.

"I'm actually more afraid of Loki right now," Clint glanced over at them. "He's pregnant, so it scares me." Both Rogers men snorted but nodded. They watched as Loki picked part of a sandwich off the plate, the trio not once looking over at the men.

"They all scare me right now," Chris muttered.

"Do women scare you in general?" Clint asked looking over at the youngest on the couch. "I'm genuinely curious. Is that why you're with Alex?" Chris smacked his shoulder and Clint started to laugh.

"I am not saving either of you when Loki turns on you," Steve muttered, watching the TV now.

"But, I'm your son." Chris looked over at him, pouting.

Steve just shook his head. "You're a man now, starting his own family. You need to learn how to keep yourself alive, because your child is going to test every nerve you have." He smirked a little as Chris sent a little glare his way. "Mmmm, I think I'm going to like being a grandpa again. Specially when this grandchild lives much closer."

"You're evil," Chris grumbled. Clint started to cackle.


Elpis straightened Eindride's tie first before sighing and going over to Tony, fixing his tie. "Who told you two to wear ties in the first place?" She muttered a little.

"Loki," the both answered at the same time. She rolled her eyes a little.

"If this weren't an extremely important moment, I'd rip the ties off." Elpis buttoned Tony's jacket first before looking at Eindride and just doing one button.

"And yet you still listened to him about the ties." Tony smirked a little, hands going into his pockets.

"Yes, because I didn't want him to rip my head off," she told him as she picked up her tablet. "I'd feel bad for making a pregnant person get stressed out."

"Even though it's her head," Eindride snorted.

"I'd just come right back, you realize this, right?" Eindride raised an eyebrow. "I ash when I die. Rise from the ashes and all that jazz. Losing my head just takes a little longer to come back from." There was a knock on the door before Tony or Eindride could question her. She pressed the white stick into Eindride's hand and walked over to open the door. "I'll right off to the side, please don't do anything to get me in trouble with Loki."

She was not encouraged by the matching smirks they both wore.

For the most part the press conference when smoothly. Tony worked the crowd like the expert he was, having them practically fawning at his feet, before making the big announcement. Eindride was standing to the side before approaching the podium. Elpis had left some note cards for him at the front, but, like Tony, he didn't use them.

"Are you going to name Assistant as your successor?" One reporter asked and he heard even Tony let out a snort of laughter.

"I don't follow in the exact steps of my father," Eindride answered with a smile. "Also, I don't think that my assistant would let me do that. She has enough trouble taking care of me at work, I don't think she'd have the time to run the company."

"What he fails to mention is that she would likely beat him if he tried to give up the role," Tony threw in to get some more laughs. "She lives up to the spirit of Pepper Potts, I can confirm this."

"That would be why this conference was so well organized, and timed." Eindride smiled a little and more questions were flung at them. "Sorry, that's all the time we have. As you can imagine I have a very busy schedule." He walked off, feeling Tony at his back.

"I think it went fairly well," Tony smiled and Eindride nodded.

"I'm sure that Elpis will have a glare for us for not using the note cards," he chuckled a little. They walked down the hall of the building, heading for the elevator, and he frowned a little when Elpis hadn't met up with them yet. "Where do you think she went?"

"Probably waiting in the office," Tony shrugged a little. "You know, for someone who fought getting an assistant for at least four years, you suddenly seem quite attached to her."

"It helps when they actually have a brain, and not the bottled tans that usually apply," Eindride told him. "It also helps immensely that she knows braille. She actually met him, the man who invented Braille, you know."

"Chris mentioned something about Helen of Troy this morning before we let, too." Tony shrugged as the elevator doors opened. "I'd like to talk to her about some of her adventures, as I'm sure Loki would too." The rode the cart up a few floors to the main office. Eindride's sense went on alert a little when he felt a smattering of magic coming from his office.

"I know that look," Tony commented when they stopped in the hall. "What's going on?"

"There's something going on in my office," Eindride frowned. "Someone's in there." Tony walked towards the doors first, Eindride behind him.

Slowly pushing the door open silently, Tony peeked his head around the edge then blinked, body un-tensing. Eindride felt the tension slip away and relaxed a little himself. He saw Elpis sitting in a chair by the windows, the sun on her, eyes closed and head resting in one of her hands. If he wasn't mistaken she looked like she was sleeping.

As they walked in Tony thought that her hair had actually dulled in color from the night before. "You two don't know what stick to the script means, do you?" She asked quietly as they walked in. "The Stark men need to come with a manual."

"You need to get some sleep," Eindride told her, stopping front of her. "Did you sleep through the whole conference?"

"No, I saw the first half, and I listened to the second half," she motioned towards the tablet on the edge of the table. "I was very attentive, don't worry. You can also be sure that I would never let you make me CEO." She blinked her eyes open to look at Eindride. "Although you were wrong about having a busy day today. I cleared the rest of the day, for both of you."

"You're never usually this tired," Eindride didn't move. She rolled her eyes a little. "Going to tell me what's going on?"

"You're not going to move until I tell you, are you?" He shook his head and she sighed. "All the forced energy over the past two months is catching up with me. I let myself actually rest last night, and that's not been the usual routine, so my body is rebeling."

"You've lost a bit of your usual shine," Tony commented.

"It's what happens when phoenix's start to ash," she closed her eyes as she answered. Her cheek rested on her hand. Tony was the only one who saw the concerned look on Eindride's face. "Lose their luster, slowly start to wilt, building energy for the next cycle."

"How often is this supposed to happen?" Eindride asked, sitting next to her.

"It's not supposed to happen for another fifty or so years, honestly." She opened her eyes and glanced over, smiling a little at him. "But I've been rather busy the past several weeks. I'm just using the sun to recharge my batteries right now, so don't worry about it. I'll sparkle and sun for your amusement in a few hours."

"You'll sparkle and shine when you get some rest," Tony said as he walked over to them, tie already loosened and half way off. "Both of you. And if you argue then you'll both be tending to Loki's pregnant needs."

"That's just not fair," Eindride grumped.

"I thought you had grown out of the not fair phase from your teenage years," Tony quipped. Elpis snorted a little. "Apparently I was wrong."