Okay, so just me right now. PlushChrome is doing something else at this moment, so we can't bounce off of each other. But hey, maybe next chapter, right? This chapter is kind of longish, but I really like it. And I really like how it turned out.
Also, you may notice that it's a little better with like, spaces than some of the other chapters, and that's cause half of it was done on my Microsoft Program, and the other half was done on Google Drive. (I don't own either of them, so please don't sue me).

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Loki, Harry Potter, or Poison Ivy. Anything you ultimately recognize is completely and totally, not mine. Also, some of this story (quite a bit of the bottom parts and a lot of the Tony input here) was written by my ever sister the amazing PlushChrome.

And now, enjoy this chapter.

Jo~


Loki was annoyed, to say the least, when Anthony Stark knocked at his door around three hours after he had last eaten and announced that he had a bowl of soup, a piece of bread, and a promise from his Lady Potts that if he did not eat, she would throw another pan at him.

Loki had really just been hoping for some time alone, but clearly, Midgardians were particularly bad at giving people space. And ignoring Stark didn't work, because the talkative moron just kept on blabbering on even though Loki wasn't answering.

"Shut up, Stark," Loki snapped finally, shutting the book he was reading (the complete works of William Shakespeare) and glaring at his door.

"Sorry, no can do," Stark said from behind the wood barrier. "I'm already framing one pan, I don't want to have to frame another. And, uh, you should actually be thanking me, because Thor wanted to deliver the plate, and I said I would go ahead. I thought he wouldn't be, you know, exactly forthcoming after your little argument. And Pepper wanted to have Bruce take it, just to make sure we were safe. But I, um, thought that wouldn't be conducive to Bruce's serenity, after he nearly Hulked before. So all in all, I'm pretty much doing you a favor."

Loki groaned and put his head in his hands, trying to drown out Stark as he continued to talk on and on. And he had thought that he was talkative!
Honestly, he was a tad hungry, but he was very used to the feeling and didn't need the extra sustenance. Especially after a plate of eggs, a bowl of cereal, a protein shake, a cup of black coffee, and half of Thor's Poptart. The disappearance of which was blamed on Stark, who didn't bother to protest, and Loki was left to decide that he didn't care much for those... marshmelons? Something like that.

And he did not want another scene like the one earlier. He had been shocked into silence by the fact that, not only did the mortals think it was wrong for him to go without food, but that they cared enough to do something about it and actually hit Thor on his – his – behalf. And that had led to his defenses being so lowered that he ended up being far too open with Thor. Once again fighting with him over the same old things and being much, much too honest with his brother.

Though, if he sent Stark away, the genius might send Thor up. And the Thunderer would hardly stand outside and wait for permission to enter. And once he barged in, the idiot would want to 'talk through their problems' or 'try to understand' or some stupid, sentimental thing like that.
Stark was still talking, saying something about children in Africa and investing in a delivery boy to do this stuff so he wouldn't have to.

"Fine," Loki called warily, making up his mind. "If it will get you to cease speaking, then by all means; come in. It is your lounge, besides."

Stark came into the room with a slight upturn of his lips that might've been an attempt at a smile, carrying a tray that was filled with a bowl of some creamy mix, a rather large roll, a small plate of salad, and another strawberry protein shake.

"Pep went all out," Stark said unnecessarily as he sat the tray down on one of the end tables. "I think you've accidently won her over there, Lokes."

"Do not call me that," Loki said, rolling his eyes and reopening his book. After reading a few sentences, he realized that Stark wasn't leaving and looked up with a glare. "What do you want?"

Stark held up his hands defensively, "Hey, cool it, Rudolf," He said playactingly. "I'm just here to make sure you eat. Sorry, but the wheels are all in motion and there's no stopping this train now. Pepper gave me a lecture about proper treatment of guests, which apparently includes feeding them," He rolled his eyes. "And Bruce, like, actually scolded Thor for not noticing how thin you are."

"I am not that thin," Loki protested.

"Really?" Stark said, raising an eyebrow. "Have you even looked in a mirror recently?"

"Yes, 'really'," Loki snapped. "And actually, I have not looked in any mirrors recently. Considering that I have had no time to eat as of late, Stark, I assumed it would be obvious that I have not been doing such mundane things as fixing up my hair!"

"Wow," Stark said, quirking an unimpressed eyebrow. "You know, I was right. You are a diva."

"I just do not understand why it's so important to you mortals that I eat," Loki huffed, glaring.

"It's the principle of the thing, Lokes," Stark said with a wave of his hand. "Even if it wasn't a moral issue to, like, starve someone to death just because you can, there are actual laws here in America about that sort of thing."

"How is it a moral issue if you starve me?" Loki asked, honestly confused. "Am I not a monster by your rights? Deserving of such a punishment?"

"I don't know about that..." Stark rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "It... Man, where's Steve with a lecture on America when I need him? Uh... Just... eat your food or something. I really don't want Bruce to Hulk. And I'm sure you don't really want that either, considering."

A threat, and a good threat, at that. Loki was impressed. "Perhaps the beast would kill me," He said contemplatively. But none the less, he dipped some bread into his soup and ate it. "That would be a satisfying end, comparatively. What do you think Stark? Death by Doctor Banner?"

"Hmm, pretty good," Stark said with a thoughtful expression. "Nice and dramatic. Painful, but hey, that's show biz. Though Clint might be mad he didn't get a shot at it, and death by Iron Man is much cooler."

"Yes, but your color scheme simply does not go with mine," Loki said with a smirk. "Though at least I would fall to an opponent who is not completely stupid."

"I'm gonna pretend that was a compliment," Stark said. A buzzing sound came from his pocket and he pulled a sleek metal device out and flipped it open. A phone, Loki remembered.

"Hey Fury," Stark said into the device. "How's your day been so far?" After a second, he frowned and glanced at Loki, who raised an eyebrow. "Er... I'll have to – JARVIS, send the team to the lounge, please... Actually, I can explain that easily, don't get your eye patch in a twist... Thor... Yep, just hanging, that's all. Asgard was getting a little dull, so he popped over for a visit... Actually, I'm not sure. The Tesserect?"

Bifrost activity. Loki could've cursed. Of course SHIELD would have some kind of device for monitoring it. Either that, or they had some sort of security in the Tower. Probably the former, as there weren't any troops bursting through the doors and throwing Loki in prison.

And Stark was a fairly good liar. Loki was impressed by his smooth tones and quick responses.

The door swung open again and Thor came in, looking worried and sighing in relief when he saw that Loki was fine, before frowning at his barely touched food. Loki picked up the fork, looked at it, and then put it back down again just to aggravate him.

Steve Rogers followed him, frowning. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Stark just picked up a call from dear Director Fury," Loki relayed in a quiet tone of voice, not wanting the director on the other end to hear. "Apparently, it's important. Something about the Bifrost."

"Actually, that might not work," Stark chimed in, talking to Fury. "Yeah, I've got some plans that I might need to cancel, and it's, like, one PM and I've got lots of projects to do... You know, suit repairs. Standard stuff, and expandable pants for Bruce... Yeah, well, he really needs them. And I mean, uh, really."

Romanoff and Barton entered the room. Romanoff leaned against the wall, her workout outfit consisting of a full length skirt, a tight tee shirt, and a pair of high heels, which Loki filed away for future consideration on her character (Did she often need to fight in heels and a dress or did she just enjoy a challenge?).

Barton was panting and in some more standard Midgardian training clothes, and his bow was thrown over his shoulder. He plopped down on one of the lounge chairs immediately, not taking notice of how sweaty he was, and Loki wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Neither of them asked to be filled in.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Stark was saying with a roll of his eyes. "Give me a sec, kay, Pirate Pete? Gotta talk to the others." He covered the part of the phone he had been talking into with his hand and turned to the group. "Okay, where's Bruce?"

"I guess he's not here yet," Rogers said. "Stark, what is going on?"

Fury's on the phone," Stark said. "Says he wants us to come meet him on the Helicarrior. Something about magical signatures. Not from here, but he thinks because the Bifrost opened it might have something to do with Loki. He wants us all there, but, uh..."

"We can't leave Loki alone here," Romanoff finished with a small nod.

At that moment, Banner came in, and Stark smiled and lifted the phone to his ear again. "Okay Fury, we'll be down. But, uh, Bruce has gotta stay."

Banner looked startled and sighed before he also frowned at Loki's tray of food. Remembering Stark's threat about the Hulk, Loki quickly took a bite of salad and tried to ignore Thor smiling in satisfaction.

"The Big Guy's just a little close to the surface, is all," Stark said to Fury. "He's had a hard day. Rogers spilled milk on his research papers, and he tripped over the cat and broke his glasses, and I'm actually pretty sure he didn't have any coffee this morning, and he almost Hulked actually."

Again, Loki was impressed. The slight truth made Stark's other stories a little more convincing, though he did note that if they ended up talking to Fury, they would have to actually damage some of Banner's papers, break his glasses, and get a cat. None of which were especially hard, but if the man dropped in on them...

"Steve rescued it," Stark told Fury. "And now I'm just trying to find a good home. I don't know, I guess they did that kind of thing, like, all the time... Take it up with Rogers... Actually, considering it's my Tower... Hey, you're the one who inquired about the cat in the first place. I was simply supplying you with an answer... What? No, I guess Thor's Shakespearean ways are just rubbing off on me."

"What's going on?" Banner whispered to Rogers, who shrugged.

"Fury called," Romanoff whispered to him. "He wants us to come in, but we can't leave Loki alone in the Tower with Pepper. Stark is trying to convince Fury that you're too stressed to come so you can watch him. Probably because you're the only one of us who can take him."

Banner nodded thoughtfully and Thor frowned. "I could," He said.

Romanoff simply raised an eyebrow and turned back to watching Stark. Loki felt himself smirk at the look on Thor's face.

"Unless you want the Helicarrior crashing again," Stark said, frowning at Romanoff as if to say 'shut up, I'm on the phone'. "Actually, I'm pretty sure he could take that down singlehandedly... Okay, okay... Whatever... Well, I don't care about that... Actually, we'll just take our quinjet... It'll take much less time... Kay then... Bye." He snapped the phone shut and turned to the others. "You guys get all that?"

Rogers and Thor both stuttered uncertainly.

"Got it," Romanoff said briskly. "Clint?"

"Most of it," Barton said, standing. "The 'I don't care about that' was a little confusing and I didn't catch the beginning, but I pretty much understand."

"I don't," Rogers said with a frown. "I mean, I know we're going to the Helicarrior and taking the Quinjet, and I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to pretend I rescued a cat, which I don't do, you know," Everyone gave him doubtful looks, even Thor who didn't really know him. "But that's about it. Except that we're leaving Loki here with Bruce."

"Yeah, I got that," Bruce said. "And we might have to break my glasses later."

"I'll buy you a new pair," Stark said unconcernedly. "Tasha and I will explain the rest on the way. Thor, you're coming with us."

"But..." Thor hesitated and bit his lip, obviously trying to decide between going with his friends and staying to look after Loki.

"Thor, if you do not stop attempting to protect me, I will throw you out the window," Loki said shortly. "Shut up and go with your precious friends." He hadn't meant it to come out so biting, but Thor winced.

"... Awkward," Stark said swiftly. "But you still need to come with us or else Fury will get suspicious. Bruce'll take care of him... Make sure he eats, and all that."

Thor looked doubtfully at Loki's plate and then sighed. "Perhaps you are right," He relented. "But Doctor Banner, you must swear to me that you will not allow your beast to harm Loki."

"I can't really promise that sort of thing," Banner said with a grimace. "I mean, I'll try to hold him back, but if something happens that I can't control, then that's that. And he doesn't really like Loki, per se."

"That is a bit of an understatement, Doctor Banner," Loki scoffed. "I believe the last time I met with your beast, he broke my ribs. Though that might have just been a gesture of fondness, I suppose. You never can tell with creatures like that."

For some reason, Banner just looked slightly gratified before frowning. "Wait," He said. "I broke your ribs?"

"Well, your beast did, at least," Loki said thoughtfully. "Only five of them. And they were fairly easy to set, so it was not as bad as it could have been."

"Great," Stark sighed, putting his forehead in his hand. "Here we go again."

"When did you set them?" Thor asked, sounding only slightly upset.

"After I woke yesterday morning," Loki answered. "Which, like I said, it was fairly painless. I hardly even felt it, and they knitted together quite easily."
Thor nodded as if broken ribs were a very common occurrence in Asgard, and setting them yourself once you woke up in the morning and waiting for them to knit together was very ordinary. Banner gave Thor a slightly upset look, looking like he was going to start telling him off.

"Bruce," Stark cut in. "You can talk to Thor about noticing Loki's broken ribs later. Right now, we've gotta split. I'll tell Pepper goodbye, and not to worry and whatever, and then we'll leave. Hey, try not to, like, kill him or something. Kay?"

"Sure, Tony," Banner said with a tight nod, seeming to gather himself as everyone left to suit up before turning back to Loki with an awkward smile. "So, how do you like the lounge?"

"I like it very much indeed," Loki told him with a frown. "Please refrain from asking me questions."

"Okay, sorry," Banner said easily. "Hey, are you gonna finish that salad?"

Loki looked down at his food thoughtfully. "I suppose not," He said. "I am not hungry enough for so much food."

Bruce took the plate and began eating some of the lettuce. Loki watched him for a second, but the scientist seemed perfectly content to sit in silence. Loki went back to his book, eating occasionally because when he didn't Banner looked up at him and made a face that looked like Thor whenever Loki wouldn't go hunting with him.

Which was an impossibly sentimental and foolish comparison, considering that the two looked absolutely nothing alike.

After a while of quiet, Banner looked up with a small frown. "Can I... I want to ask you something," He said, phrasing his sentence so Loki wasn't forced into anything. "You don't have to answer, if you don't feel... comfortable."

Loki tilted his head to the side and considered. Like with Stark the night before, he was thrown by the fact that he was given a choice. Banner was not even going to ask if he did not allow it. It made Loki feel like he wanted to answer, to repay his kindness.

"Like I said," Banner was saying, ducking his head a little bit. "You don't have to. I just... I'm curious."

"I will answer if I am comfortable," Loki told him warily.

"Okay," Banner nodded and considered his words for a moment. "I just... Earlier, you said you'd gone for years without food." He frowned, looking a tad angry again. "I was just wondering how many times that happened."

Loki did a quick headcount. "I would say around five," He answered with a small nod. "Yes, I went without food for years five various times."
"Why?" Banner asked, breathing deeply as if trying to be calm.

"The first time..." Loki turned his head to the side again and tried to remember. "That one was the time that Thor and I were captured and taken to Muspelheim, which nearly started a war. The Fire Giants feed solely on rock, and there wasn't much food they could give us."

"So they starved you," Banner said with a tight nod.

"No, it was my choice," Loki corrected. "They did give us some food, but they had no concept of what growing Asgardian boys needed, and there was not much in terms of helpings. I..." Loki licked his lips and tried closing off his expression. "I did not need as much food as Thor, I was used to skipping the occasional meal and he was the crowned prince. It was completely logical."

Banner stared at him for a second. "You... gave him your portions," He stated.

"It was-" He wanted to say it was nothing, just a logical decision he had made with absolutely no emotional feelings towards his pig of a brother. Once again, he couldn't get the words out. But he felt slightly uncomfortable with Banner thinking he had been self-sacrificing. Especially towards Thor.

"No, that's cool, that you did that," Banner said, looking a tad confused. "What about... I'm wondering about the other times."

"The second was of similar circumstance," Loki told him. "Though perhaps a little less valiant on my part. We were captured by some dwarven lords who sought recompense for the returning of us. However, I tried to use my words to remove Thor and I from the situation and the dwarves, seeing through my lies, took it upon themselves to rid me of my silver tongue. Being unable to eat, I had offered my morsels to Thor."

"They ridded you of your silver tongue," Banner repeated, not quite a question. "How did they...?"

"They sewed my mouth shut," Loki tried to sound nonchalant and uncaring, but his voice was tight and uncomfortable anyway. After all, that had hardly been a fun time for him and those dwarves with their cruelties had often warred with Thanos and the Other for hold over his nightmares.

Banner stared at him in a kind of horrified disbelief. "...How old were you?!" He demanded after a moment.

"Fourteen, in your Midgardian years," Loki said, watching the scientist warily. "It was not all that bad. Thor was very..." Comforting? Vengeful? Kind? "... He did not laugh," Loki finished lamely. Banner's eye twitched. "And the wounds healed. I could speak again within the course of a few weeks, after we were removed from prison."

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Banner said with a small sigh. "But I'm wondering about the other times."

Loki fidgeted uncomfortably. "Ah, those were harder," He said. "I... do not want to talk about them."

Because out of the three remaining, two he had afflicted upon himself. Starving so that people would look over at him and wonder at why he wasn't eating.

So that Volstagg could say "NONSENSE!" in that loud voice of his whenever he said he was not hungry and inform him that all growing boys needed to eat before stacking his plate full of a dizzying amount of food. So that Frigga would come to his room and sigh and grieve over how very small he was looking. So that Fandral would give him those confused looks and tell him that, if Volstagg could eat to his hearts content and still be a good warrior than he certainly could. So that Odin would sit there and watch him as he ate, determined not to leave until every bite was gone from his plate.

And most importantly, so that Thor would get that look on his face that said he cared as he pulled Loki into his arms and wondered at how he had not noticed how thin he was, staying with him for a short, precious time and laughing with him and comforting him just like he used to.

And the fifth time he had starved was when he was with the Chitauri. The days fading into months, a kaleidoscope of pain and desperation where it hardly even mattered that he was hungry because it hurt so much.

He couldn't relive those moments.

"Excuse me," Loki said abruptly, standing and starting to pace. Back and forth, like a caged animal.

"Sorry," Banner said regretfully.

Loki threw him a bewildered look as he paced. "Whatever for?" He wondered.

"I didn't mean to intrude," The scientist said. "I guess that stuff isn't very easy to remember. No wonder you're so used to starving. Didn't Thor... I mean, I'm wondering why Thor didn't stop you the first time."

"He didn't know," Loki said with a frown. "He thought I was eating just as well as he was and only when we got home did he see that I... But that is common. Thor is not very perceptive."

"Yeah, I noticed," Banner said, nodding. "You're here for less then a day and I notice how thin you look, and he didn't even bother to bring you food."

"I am not that thin," Loki protested again, folding his arms and frowning down at his shirt. It was black today, to match his dark pants and boots. "And besides, he brought me a plate. He simply dropped it."

"Without all the leather and metal, you're alarmingly thin," Banner stated bluntly. "What I'm wondering is what you ate before six days ago."

"I don't..." Loki frowned and reviewed his memories. "Not counting the poisoned foods, I did not eat at all after Thor's coronation day. That would be a little more then a year. Hardly even a wait, considering the longevity of the other four various times."

Banner sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Poisoned food," He said. "Naturally, you were fed poisoned food."

Loki licked his lips again nervously and sat back down, cursing his own stupidity. They were getting horrendously close to the subject of Chitauri torture, and he did not want to relive that. Plus, he would rather not have the Avengers and his brother aware of exactly how weak he was.

But Banner didn't say anything about it, he simply got up and began rifling through some things. Loki watched the doctor warily as he smiled and removed a black, dusty box from the fireplace mantel.

"Chess," Banner supplied as he placed the box in front of Loki.

"Chess?" Loki repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I don't know if you have it on Asgard," Banner said. "But I thought it was your type of game."

"We have chess in Asgard," Loki told him. He didn't have to mention that no one was ever willing to play him, as he would always win and no one was willing to risk the shame of losing to Asgard's resident disappointment. Nor was he inclined to bring up the fact that, more often than not, he had ended up conjuring holographic clones of himself in desperation for a little company. Only to spend the whole of the game attempting to outthink himself, perfecting his facial expressions, and wholly despising himself in every way.

"I bet you won a lot," Banner guessed with another of his easy grins, starting to set up the board.

"Yes," Loki said honestly. After all, he both won and lost whenever he played chess.

"Blacks or whites?" Banner inquired before grimacing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ask."

"I understand, it was accidental," Loki told him, mystified by these strange mortals. "And I prefer the blacks, thank you. They are darker, like me. The white soldiers always remind me of Thor."

"Thor doesn't strike me as the chess type," Banner remarked idly. "I can't really imagine the two of you sitting down to a match. You must've beaten him a fair few times."

Loki blinked back a mental picture of him and Thor, strategizing and laughing with one another at their mistakes. "He never played me," He said. "Though if he had, I am fairly certain that I would have defeated him, yes. He has never particularly cared for strategy. Or..."

Or anything Loki found interesting or enjoyable. Anything he wanted to do, Thor always threw aside. Reading in the library? That was for the old and weary. Watching the masters do magic? That was for girls. Walking along the paths of the forests? Boring unless you were tracking some sort of prey.

Eventually, Loki had gotten the idea that Thor really just didn't care for him in general. Yes, the Thunderer had proclaimed that he loved him, and yes he did attempt to drag Loki into several different wild hunts or other adventures (That Loki had always ended up agreeing to, ever desperate for some time with his brother), but on a whole, he did not actually enjoy Loki for who he was.

Banner had finished setting up the pieces by this time, and, moving his first piece, leaned back in his chair, waiting for Loki to make his move.

Loki felt the corner of his mouth turn up involuntarily as he reached over to play his first real game of chess in a long time.


All in all, Tony's first impression of the ever famous Jane Foster left him decidedly unimpressed.

For a long, long time now, he had been hearing about her brilliance from SHIELD, and her strength and beauty from Thor and a few others. Not to mention Selvig's glowing report of her character. But now, as he and the other Avengers stood awkwardly by, trying not to watch as she continuously kissed Thor (Dude, it was taking like, forever), he just kept second guessing their brilliant plans to rendezvous with her and bring her along for the ride.

Looking around at his team mates (rather than continuing to watch... that), Tony noticed that Clint was blushing, Steve had his hand over his eyes, and even Natasha was looking away with a slightly sickened expression.

Enough was enough.

"Hey, Thor, buddy," Tony interrupted the happy couple. "Planning on breathing anytime soon? Or do you Asgardians have a bigger lung capacity than us? Even so, I guess Bella would pass out fairly quickly."

Clint snorted at the reference and Jane narrowed her eyes as she (finally) pulled away from Thor.

"Oh, are you upset that I'm not swooning over you like your cover girls?" She snarked. "Or do you prefer beauty over brains?"

Choosing to ignore that cover girls technically meant a make-up company, Tony just smirked right back. "You think a girl can only be in one category?" He shot back. "So then, which one are you?"

"And it's not like Stark hasn't been in a committed relationship for like, four months now or something," Clint cut in, looking surprisingly defensive. Maybe he'd been so unnerved by the PDA that his filters were off. "Get with the times, Girly."

"Yeah," Jane said, rolling her eyes at Clint. "And I'm just sure that four months with a pretty assistant makes up for his years of breaking the hearts of other girls."

"We all believe in second chances here, ma'am," Steve cut in with a slight frown, still slightly pink, even worse with the present talk.

"Shouldn't we all be in the briefing room?" Natasha spoke up, with a look that most understood to mean 'Before this gets any uglier than it already is.'

"Right you are, Natashalie," Tony said, snapping his fingers. "We all know how impatient Fury gets when we're running late, and he's not gonna take 'soul sucking dementors' as an excuse."

He really needed to learn to bite his tongue. But luckily, Thor had never read Harry Potter, and Jane obviously hadn't either, as she looked bewildered while Clint laughed about his reference to the Dementor's Kiss.

Taking Jane's hand and, completely oblivious to the discomfort of the others, Thor began walking through the halls. Jane followed him like a puppy and listened avidly as Thor started talking of Asgard and his mother and father, and anything that didn't have to do with Loki.

"Wow," Clint muttered, breaking the silence. "I have never disliked someone so quickly in my life."

"There are maybe about six, seven others who took precedence," Tony said. "But yeah, she's annoying."

"Isn't she supposed to be this... really smart, cool girl?" Steve asked, looking a tad bewildered, like they must've gotten the wrong Jane.

Tony shrugged. "Maybe she got her Masters in really bad kissing?" He suggested.

"How to eat someone's face off in under four minutes," Clint said with a bit of a smile.

"That was only four minutes?" Tony said with a smirk.

"Mouth to mouth 101," Natasha suggested.

Tony laughed loudly at that, mainly because it was funny to hear the Black Widow making a joke, and having the extra bonus of being about someone who'd just insulted him. He would have to get back at Jane for that later. Especially the 'pretty assistant' comment. As if Pepper wasn't so much more.

"Guys," Steve interrupted, blushing again. "Fury, remember? We don't want to be too late."

"Right," Clint said. "Ix-Nay on the Ane-Jay jokes. At least for now."

As they stepped into the debriefing room, Fury turned from where he had been silhouetted against the window. Tony was pretty sure Fury planned his introductions to the exact seconds in an attempt to look extra impressive. Today, Tony ranked him maybe a 7.2.

"Avengers, Miss Foster," Fury said by way of a hello. "I'm sure you know why we're all here."

"Magical signatures," Tony spoke up. "Bifrost opening. Which, we already settled that one with Goldilocks over here popping in for a visit. You think-"

"Actually," Jane interrupted. Tony resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "There's more to it than that."

Fury turned and looked at her slowly and she frowned. "Excuse me?" He said in his no-nonsense voice. "You mean there's more than what you told us?"

"I told you what you needed to know," Jane said, sounding a bit too high-and-mighty for Tony's liking. "But now Thor's here, and I know I can trust him, at least."

Thor beamed at her brightly and she smiled back at him, taking his hand.

Clint mimed gagging behind his hand.

Natasha smiled overly-brightly at him and held out her hand, which he took with a puppy-dog expression of adoration that Tony deemed slightly unfair. And funny.

"Okay, so, we're not really clued in," He said, looking at Jane and raising his eyebrows slightly. "Now that you feel warm and secure, mind telling us what's on your mind?"

Expecting another jibe at his moral character, Tony was surprised when Jane looked off into the distance, looking a mixture between hurt and terrified. "...I was threatened," she said. "By another Asgardian." Tony was rather impressed with her mood swings. Maybe she was off her meds or something.

"What?!" Thor demanded. "Who did this?!"

"I don't know," Jane said. "She didn't say her name. But whoever she is, she's nothing compared to what's next. She's in league with Loki."

Thor looked bewildered, while Natasha cleverly turned her laugh into a cough.

"You're kidding," Tony said in mock horror. "Loki? You mean, take-over-the-world, leading-the-Chitauri Loki?"

Jane nodded solemnly. "She was wearing all green," she said. "And she had magic."

Because every scientist who wore red was in league with Tony. And every archer who wore purple was in league with Clint.

"My dear Jane, you are greatly mistaken," Thor began. "Loki is-"

Tony kicked him under the table and Natasha coughed again, while Clint cast a glance around surreptitiously, probably figuring out how to disable all the cameras at once.

"Loki is in Asgard," Thor quickly corrected himself, barely managing to pull it off. "I left him in a cell." He furrowed his brow, looking troubled, but convicted. Tony blamed his fairly good lying skills on years with Loki.

"But she mentioned him," Jane protested. "By name."

"What did she say?" Thor inquired curiously.

"Well, I don't remember all the exact words," Jane said with a frown. "But she said something about finding him."

Tony hit his forehead with his hand. "So, let me get this straight," he said. "An Asgardian woman with a fetish for the color green threatened you with magic unless you gave away the location of a convicted imprisoned Asgardian war-criminal? So you automatically think they must be in league with each other. Yeah, makes total sense."

"No, that's not what I said," Jane protested. "She didn't ask me to give up the location of Loki, she just mentioned him. She actually seemed a lot more interested in Thor. I think..." She glared at the table and clutched Thor's hand harder. "That she's in love with him."

"It's the hair, isn't it?" Clint suddenly mused, looking at Thor's hair contemplatively. "I'll bet it's the hair."

"Guys," Steve practically begged.

"Agent Barton," Fury interrupted, looking exasperated as he turned once again to Jane. "So, Miss Foster, you called us with a potential global catastrophe involving the war-criminal Loki, and what we have is a fangirl in green?"

"A witch fangirl in green," Tony corrected. "Pansy Parkinson, maybe? Millicent Bulstrode?"

"Would that make Thor Draco?" Clint inquired.

"Only if I get to be Harry Potter," Tony stated.

"No, but that wouldn't work," Clint said. "Considering Nat's gotta be Ginny."

"Oh please," Natasha said. "Maybe Jane can be Ginny instead."

"But then Thor would be Harry," Clint noted. "And I just don't see that working."

"I dunno," Tony said. "He's already got the lightning."

"But black hair, green eyes?" Natasha stated, her undertones clearly mentioning someone else.

"Well," Tony said. "We'll just have to find some magic bro with green eyes and black hair to come be Harry. But then Jane cannot be Ginny."

"Wrong, so wrong," Clint agreed shaking his head. "Which brings us back to Nat. I think it could work. Tony?"

"I choose not to answer that, on the grounds that it might incriminate me," Tony said.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Steve demanded desperately.

"Yes, I would like to know as well," Thor said, looking incredibly confused. "Is Lady Natasha being courted?!"

The undertones of his question were clearly heard, and everyone who knew what was going on burst out laughing.

"No, Thor, I am not being courted," Natasha said finally. "But I trust I would have your blessing if I were?"

Thor fumbled for a moment. "A-aye, Good Lady," He said. "Though I am not sure the groom would be particularly pleased."

By now, Clint and Tony were on the floor, while Natasha got a strange look on her face, raising her eyebrows at Thor.

"N-not to say that you are not- that he wouldn't-" Thor sputtered, eyes wide. "I mean to say-"

"Dude, stop digging," Tony gasped out.

Steve put his head on the table.

"If you're all done with your gossip fest," Fury announced. "I'd like you to either explain what you're going on about or KEEP IT TO YOURSELVES."

"Keep it to ourselves," Tony said immediately, feeling strangely like a rebuked child. "Nothing to say."

"Yeah, nothing at all," Clint said, sitting up straight in his chair and giving Fury a nod. "We're all good here."

They exchanged a glance and fell into another hopeless round of hysterics.

"Oh, how cute you all are," A high, trilling voice said suddenly. Everyone whirled around immediately, raising their respective weapons, except for Tony, who wasn't wearing his suit and instinctively folded his arms protectively across his chest. As always, he managed to make it look like he was just ticked off instead.

"Amora," Thor said, Mjolnir in his hands and Jane behind him.

The woman, who was around five six and had long blonde hair and red lipstick that Tony normally associated with trying too hard, laughed. "Hello, my dear Thor," She said. "Oh, and you brought your little pet." She pouted. The expression was cute. "I do hope you are not too upset that we had a little discussion."

As much as Tony didn't like Jane, he had to admit, this woman, although rather laughable, gave off the general impression of being evil, and Tony wouldn't have wanted her targeting him either. Especially as she was a woman scorned at the moment.

"Ma'am," Fury spoke up. "Drop any weapons and put your hands on your head, slowly."

"Ooh, I am afraid I cannot do so," Amora said regretfully. "But you understand. Don't you?"

All of a sudden, instead of looking kind of lame, Amora was glowing. Literally, she was glowing a light color of green (really? Green, again?), her eyes looking almost like swirling vortexes and her already beautiful face turning alarmingly, stunningly, gorgeous.

Honestly, if Tony hadn't been in a very committed and loving relationship, he might've suddenly considered being in one.

But that made him think of Pepper, and then Amora was lame again. Tony was embarrassed. How could he ever have thought anything like that?! But then

he looked around and realized that he, apparently, wasn't the only one.

Even Fury was smiling under his eyepatch.

"What happened?" Natasha asked, looking at Clint in alarm as he stood up straight and smiled at Amora.

"Thor?" Jane asked as Thor tugged his hand away and gazed at Amora in adoration. "What are you doing?"

Steve also stood, bowing his head slightly, a different shade of pink on his face.

"Wow," Tony said. "It must be some sort of spell."

"Tony?" Natasha exclaimed, turning to him. "What's going on?"

"It's probably a, um…" Tony started, getting quiet for the last two words. "...Love spell."

"A love spell!?" Jane repeated. "She can do that?"

"Apparently," Natasha agreed. "Tony, how come it didn't affect you?"

Tony felt his ears turn slightly red. "It, uh, did," he said. "I just… Well, I thought of Pepper and it stopped working…"

Natasha quirked the corner of her mouth. "Really?" She said.

"Yeah, well, you know," Tony said. "...Sentiment. Here, let me test it out."

Turning to Steve, Tony got between Steve and Amora, breaking the line of vision. "Hey Steve, remember Peggy?" He said flippantly. Steve paused and after a moment, shut his eyes, shaking his head. Looking up, he turned as red as the stripes on his shield and sat heavily down in his chair.

"Yep, sentiment," Tony affirmed.

Natasha nodded, and turned to Clint. "Guatemala," she said. "December 15th. 2009."

Clint reacted much the same way that Steve had, except he laughed when he got clear.

"What are you doing?!" Amora demanded, her face scrunching up in anger. "Cease that right this minute, you blithering mortals!"

Fury leaned against his desk, and everyone (Amora included) turned in silence to watch, wondering what he would do. He began muttering something over and over, and Tony had to lean in a little closer to hear what he was saying.

"Valentina …." He was mumbling. "Valentina Allegra… de Fontaine… Valentina…"

Tony stared. He really had to look into Fury's past a little more. Maybe he could do some digging, find out something about this mysterious Valentina. But, not really a priority at the moment.

"Hey, Janey," Tony said, turning to Jane. "Get your boyfriend, will you?"

Jane nodded and stepped in front of Thor. "Thor, look at me," She said. "It's Jane."

Tony was fully expecting Thor to shake his head and snap out of his trance, but instead he just strained to continue looking at Amora over the top of Jane's head.

"Ha, you petty mortal," Amora said haughtily. "You are nothing compared to me, the mistress of magic and enchantress. How could any man resist me?"

"News flash," Tony spoke up. "You just met four."

"Insolent fool," Amora snapped. "As if I even wanted you. None of you are as perfect as Thor. All of you are beneath me in every way."

"Thor," Jane said again, looking hurt. "Why isn't it working?"

"It's not enough," Tony realized. "The bond isn't strong enough."

"What?" Jane demanded shortly.

"I mean, me with Pepper," Tony said. "That's like, powerful stuff, sentimentally speaking. Steve would've married Peggy and apparently Clint has some Guatemalan girl from o' nine, and Fury has a secret love. Apparently, you're not a powerful enough incentive. There's still something else."

"Something else?!" Jane repeated. "Do you mean someone else?!"

"I don't know," Tony said. "You're not… doing much."

Jane scowled. "But I love him," She said. "He loves me!"

"Oh, poor little Jane," Amora tutted in false sympathy. "I am afraid the dear Prince Thor has realized what a silly thing you are, and has turned to his real love. Is that not right, my dearest?" She turned to Thor, and he nodded eagerly.

"What do we do?" Steve asked, seeming to shake off his shock a bit. "If he's not coming to with Jane, then how do we get him out?"

"Hit him?" Clint suggested with a shrug. "Cognitive recalibration?"

"I get the feeling this is something a little different," Natasha told him.

"Still, couldn't hurt," Clint said. "Steve should do it. He's the strongest."

Fury fired his gun at Amora, and the bullets went right through her as she disappeared. Thor looked around in distress until she reappeared behind him and took his hand, grinning evilly at Jane.

"Thor, stop it!" Jane cried. "You don't love her, you love me, remember?"

"As if a god such as him would ever look twice at such an ugly mortal," Amora said with a laugh. "Obviously, he does not truly care for you as you thought."

As annoying as she was, Tony couldn't help but feel sorry for Jane as she blinked back tears and glared at Amora hatefully. She obviously had thought something of the sort before.

"Jane, she's lying," Tony told her, rolling his eyes. "Just because it's not… working quite as well… Doesn't mean he doesn't care about you."

"Mortal, you are very amusing," Amora said with a shark grin. "But unfortunately, I am afraid my heart belongs to only Thor."

"Good, we were worried," Clint cut in. He had leveled an arrow at Amora, but seemed hesitant to shoot. Maybe because she might disappear again.

"Insufferable man," Amora said angrily. "You are nothing! Not even worth my time! None of you are!"

"Steve," Tony said. "Now would be good. Want to try and get Thor back?"

Steve nodded and, stepping forward, punched Thor on the jaw. The god stumbled back a bit, but then just looked back at Amora as if he were awaiting instructions.

"They scorn me," Amora said to him, her voice dripping with fake hurt. "You must show them not to laugh at beautiful maidens such as myself, my love."

"Oh great," Tony said, backing up a bit. "Mayday. She's playing the 'wounded girlfriend' card."

"I'm his girlfriend!" Jane protested.

"You dare speak words against my dearest Amora?" Thor spoke up for the first time since the spell was cast. "She who has beauty to rival Freya herself?"

"That is right, my pet," Amora crooned. "They doubt my appeal and refuse my grace. I have only you to appreciate me."

Thor's face twisted in a mixture between anger, sympathy, and undying love for Amora. He turned to the others and raised Mjolnir. "Do any of you mortals dare continue your false words, or shall I smite you now before more such atrocities pass?"

"No, we're good," Tony said calmly, getting an idea. "At least, I am. If you'll excuse me, I've gotta go cancel an important business meeting. I'm like, half an hour late. Goodbye."

Turning, he left before anyone could stop him, and closing the door, pulled out his StarkPhone.

"JARVIS," he muttered. "Cut all surveillance in this corridor and lock everyone out until I'm done."

"Yes sir," JARVIS said. "Shall I ring up the tower?"

"You know it," Tony said, putting the phone to his ear and waiting while it rang.

"Hey, Tony," Bruce said from the other line. "How did things go with Fury?"

"Uh, they started bad," Tony told him. "And then it got a little better, and then it took a really weird turn. Can you put Lokes on the phone?"

"Loki?" Bruce said, sounding confused. "Why? What happened?"

"Er, Thor's fangirl came by," Tony relayed. "And that didn't make Mary Sue very happy. Things got messy fast and now Thor may bust out the hammer because Green Girl is using her Veela powers. Oh, and did you know Fury has an old flame named Valentina?"

"...Valentina?" Bruce repeated. "That's fun, I guess."

"Yeah, so put Loki on the phone," Tony said.

Bruce obviously wasn't following what was going on (really? He couldn't keep up with the conversation?), but after a moment of muted conversation between him and what was clearly Loki, the phone changed hands.

"What is it, Stark?" Loki said, sounding more at ease than the last time they'd talked. "I was in the middle of something."

"Well, this is slightly more important," Tony told him. "First off, your brother's girlfriend came by."

"Oh, Jane Dearest," Loki said with a slight hiss. "And what did you think of her?"

"Well she insulted me right off the bat," Tony answered. "And before that, she and Thor had a make-out session that lasted forever, but-"

"Stark, please, that is disgusting," Loki interrupted with a gag. "I am attempting to eat!"

"Sorry about that," Tony chuckled, noting with pleasure that he was indeed eating. "But uh, there's more. You remember how we said something about magical signatures?"

"Of course I remember," Loki huffed.

"That was the crazy lady who you guys told us about," Tony told him.

"Ah, yes," Loki didn't sound too worried. "I believe that is my fault. When she interrogated me, I was forced to give her information about Midgard that she might've found most interesting. I hope she did not cause you or the others much inconvenience."

"Uh, yeah, that's actually what I was calling about," Tony said, leaning against the wall and wincing when he heard a bang from the other room. "She went to catfight with Janey Dear, which is probably where the magical signatures came from, and then she came here, to the Helicarrier."

"Did you apprehend her?" Loki asked.

"No, now stop interrupting," Tony frowned. "Before we could do anything, she did this weird thing that, uh, made everyone… fall in love with her."

"A love spell?" Loki said, sounding surprised. "Well, I suppose, she did call herself the Enchantress, so she would be a proficient at such things. Did you call to ask how to break it?"

"Dude, I figured that out like, ten minutes ago," Tony rolled his eyes. "Actually, that's part of our problem. I broke it fairly quickly and Fury got out all by his lonesome. Tasha got Clint to snap out of it and I mentioned a lost love to Cap, but Thor is having some… issues. The thought of Jane isn't doing anything. And I'm pretty sure Poison Ivy is making him fight the others on her behalf right now." There was another bang, followed by a loud yell. "Yeah… Right now."

"I thought I told that pathetic witch to keep her grimy claws away from my brother," Loki hissed before seeming to come to himself. He cleared his throat awkwardly and Tony grinned.

"Feeling a bit protective?" He asked, wincing to himself when he realized he'd just asked a question.

"Yes," Loki answered with a low growl. "Shut up, Stark."

Tony laughed a bit. The wall behind him shook and he frowned. "So anyway," He said. "Getting back on topic. Jane isn't working and I figured, you would know Thor better than just about anyone. Is there anyone that he… always sort of liked?"

"Oh yes," Loki answered. "Try Sif. If that doesn't work, I will be heartily surprised."

"Sif," Tony nodded, reviewing his memories. "I read about her in the file. She's the one with dark hair and the swords, who fought the Destroyer in New Mexico, right?"

"Yes, and always mention the swords," Loki said. "Thor has always been fond of how good she was with them."

"Alright, well, I'll go save your brother from a crazy mage now," Tony said with a sigh. "I swear, Loki, he's more trouble than you are."

"I am not sure that is a compliment, Stark," Loki said. "Would you like my magical expertise on these matters or shall I continue my chess match?"

"Er, maybe later, but I'm pretty sure I got this for now," Tony said consideringly. "Plus, that would mean that SHIELD would know you're here. And Jane. Which, we might have to tell her eventually, but… later is better, in this case. She's already convinced you're evil, and in league with the cheerleader."

"The what leader?" Loki sighed in bemusement.

"Cheerleader," Tony repeated. "They're these girls who dance and wave these stringy, puffy things at sporting events to pump up the crowds. Mostly, they've got a bad name because a lot of cheerleaders are mean girls, quite often blonde. Like in Bring it On. Or Hatching Pete."

"Stark, I'm lost," Loki admitted.

"Amora," Tony sighed. "She thinks you're in league with Amora."

"That is decidedly foolish," Loki scoffed. "As if I would deign to support a blithering damsel, whose only goal is to win the heart of my incompetent brother. Tell me, how would that further my own goals?"

"Hey, I didn't say I thought that," Tony told him. "In fact, when she said that, we all laughed. Like, even Tasha. Which, by the way, Thor might be having a long conversation with you about the possibilities of a courtship."

"A courtship betwixt myself and your Spider?" Loki said with a light laugh. "Miss 'Love-Is-For-Children' herself?"

"See, that's what I said," Tony said contemplatively. "But we need someone to be Harry, and you were picked. And Tasha is much better for you than Jane."

"I think I will just go without," Loki decided. "While your Romanoff is quite pretty, I doubt we would have a very happy home life. And even if I didn't happen to consider Miss Foster a silly little thing, Thor would be most displeased. But did you not have something to do, Stark?"

Tony smacked his forehead with his hand again. "Right, Thor," He groaned. "You got me all sidetracked!"

"It was hardly my fault," Loki huffed. "You're the one who brought up your cheerleaders and my impending courtship with the lovely Natasha. Now be on your way, you stupid thing."

The way he said it was more endearing than offensive (which was a bit weird in and of itself), so Tony let it slide and hung up the phone before they could start talking again. Turning, he strode back into the room and stopped, spotting the large amount of damage.

For one thing, the window near the back of the room had shattered, allowing wind into the room that was whipping everyones hair around. For another, arrows stuck out of several surfaces. Steve had a cut on his arm and was dodging the blasts of raw magic that Amora was throwing at him, her pretty face screwed up in her frustration.

And for yet another thing, Fury and Clint were trying to hold Thor back from causing any more destruction, and were actually getting pulled across the floor as Thor attempted to get to Amora. While Jane was screaming and trying to throw things at Amora (Pepper had much better aim, and Jane missed every time), and meanwhile, Natasha was on Thor's back, yelling over the sound of the wind and obviously trying to talk some sense into him.

"SIF!" Tony shouted as loud as he could. "THOR, LISTEN, THINK ABOUT SIF!"

The room got quiet as Thor whirled around to face Tony so fast he knocked Natasha off of his back.

"Remember Sif?" Tony prodded. "Long, dark hair? Likes her swords?"

"Sif…" Thor mumbled, as if trying to remember.

"NO!" Amora screeched, sounding like a banshee. "STOP IT! HE'S MINE!"

"Sif?" Jane demanded, looking even more hurt and put-out than before. "You mean that girl who came before? But… But…"

Amora screamed and rushed toward Jane as if she was going to rip her apart, but Thor got in between them and leveled his hammer at her, glaring.

"Leave while you still keep your life, Enchantress," He said. "Your sorceresses ways will not accomplish anything here, and if you attempt to continue on your path of deceit, I swear, I will not hesitate to kill you."

"Yeah, hear hear," Clint said, gasping slightly and straightening up. "I don't like it when people mess with my head. And I really didn't need to be reminded about Guatemala."

Natasha gave him a slightly apologetic look, and Tony's curiosity increased ten-fold. He wondered if something had happened between the two agents, or if Clint really did have a secret love from back in the day, like Fury.
Speaking of which…

"Actually," Fury said, glaring at Amora. "I believe you're under arrest. Unless our resident ambassador to Asgard protests, you're going away for a fairly long time."

"Idiotic, assuming mortals!" Amora shouted, practically spitting in her anger. Tony decided that it was a lot less degrading when Loki called them idiots and mortals. "I will have Thor one day! This battle is not over, he will be all mine and no one will stand in my way! Not you pathetic little 'Avengers', not your Strategic Homeland Intervention: Enforcement and Logistics Division, not Loki, and certainly not a talentless, ugly little mortal like JANE FOSTER!"

"Dude, you're really just making yourself look worse, at this point," Tony said, shaking his head and trying to cover up her Loki reference. "Everyone's just gonna feel sorry for you."

"I know I do," Clint piped in.

"And that's SHIELD," Fury corrected with a glare.

With a last, furious scream, Amora vanished into thin air.

In the ensuing silence, Clint turned to Tony. "So, you figured out how to break the spell by thinking of Pepper, right?"

Tony smirked nonchalantly, making sure not to show how uncomfortable he was discussing this. "Yeah, that's a side-effect of the genius," he boasted. "Her little magic-trick barely held me for three seconds."

Clint laughed once and turned to the still-speechless Jane. "And you thought he wasn't committed," he stated.

While Thor was affected the longest, and not brought out of it by Jane.

The obvious end to the sentence hung in the air, and, unlike the many references to Harry Potter, Jane seemed to understand perfectly. The expression of heartbreak was so obvious on her face that understanding washed over Tony like a waterfall, and he suddenly hated every mean thing that had been said of her that day.

Everyone had a past, everyone had their own problems. Who knows what all Jane had been through before that made her the way she was now? Perhaps she had been ditched at her homecoming. Perhaps she'd always been made to believe she wasn't pretty, and so she had to be smart. Perhaps she'd been cheated on by someone she loved. At any rate, Tony was heartily ashamed of himself. Someone like him should know better than to judge. Heaven knows he had a bucket load of imperfections. In fact, everyone knows he had a bucket load of imperfections. How dare he ridicule someone else for the same?

He didn't have to like her. In fact, he still didn't like her. He thought she was annoying, childish and fell too hard too fast. But he didn't have to taunt her for it.

"Meh, don't worry, Janey," Tony said flippantly. "Amora was obviously trying harder with Thor. That chick's got some serious issues to work through. Besides, who said sentimentality had to be love? He's known Sif for what, centuries? They're like, besties, they grew up together. Although, did anyone else catch that he didn't even come out of it until we mentioned swords?" He gave Jane a mock warning look and hissed sympathetically through his teeth. "Careful, darling," he said. "Sounds to me like he just might be one of those guys who takes his hobbies way more seriously than his relationships."

Jane looked a bit surprised, and grateful. It was obvious the hurt was still there, but some of the sting was out of it now, and Tony gave a small smile. "Now, Fury," he said, turning everyone's attention to the director and off poor Jane. "What was the name of that little sweetheart you mentioned? Valentina, I think you said? Sounds Italian. Do you have a little Italian lady you're not telling us about?"

Fury glared and stalked menacingly from the room. Tony ranked his exit about 5.8 on the impressive-meter. It would have been better if the other Avengers hadn't been trying hard to turn their snickers into coughs.

"You're holding out on us, director," Tony called after him, getting louder so Fury could hear as he got further away. "You need to learn to share. You'll feel better if you talk it out!"

Turning back to the team, Tony smiled. "Well," he said. "Anyone up for pizza? I'm thinking Italian..."


So, okay, first things first. Do you guys know what I just had to deal with?! It's eleven forty on a Sunday night, I have to work tomorrow, I still have to shower, and ALL OF MY SPACES STARTED COMPLETELY FREAKING OUT! Because of the different fonts, and the spaces and such... I had to go through - TWICE - and respace EVERYTHING! Which, by the way, was not fun. At all. But, now let's move on. I'm done griping.

Also, more slight mentioning's of BlackFrost romance, but it is, once again, purely platonic. Did you enjoy the Pepperony? Did you like my Peggy/Steve stuff? Also, I purposefully left Clint's romance unexplained. So that it might be Clintasha (I always ship Clintasha), but it might just be some random girl that Clint knew. That may have died. Or just ditched him. Or didn't like bows and arrows. Or, my sister says that, because it was mostly sentiment and not even wholly about love, it could've been a colleague dying, or orphans or something. So, yeah. Interpret what you will, but Clint keeps his secrets.

And Fury's 'old flame' Valentina Allegra de Fontaine? She happens to be a Marvel character who had a romance with Fury and was then revealed to be a traitor. And also a Skrull, but that's besides the point. So... yeah. Thought I'd mention that.

Also. I totally heard you guys. A lot of you were like 'don't put Jane in', but I think I worked something out that'll (hopefully) please most of you. Yes, she's annoying, but we're not judging the character. And Tony isn't judging the character. Because he's super cool like that. And also, this isn't exactly Thif... Even though I like shipping Thif, but... not really.

Okay, also. While we were writing this, me and Plushie wrote a lot of little notes, back and forth to each other. These were quite fun and sort of explained (in part) our thought process. These little notes, from this chapter that you just read, are eventually going to be turned into a little extra thing later. A 'Liesmith: Behind the Scenes' for all of you. Or something of a similar title. Probably with an exclamation point. Liesmith: Behind the scenes!. Yeah. Like that.

(Adds some excitement. I like it.)

(Yes, thank you, sister dearest)

(Whoa, did you seriously just Loki/Thor me? Uh, no, I'm Tony. Get with the program, Girly.)

(Apologies, Stark. I'll try and remember that in the future.)

Anyway. Bye guys.

Jo~ (And, once again, Plushie. I'm still not stealing the spotlight or anything. No, seriously. It's all Jo.)

Oh. My. Gosh. It's twelve. Right now. No... Dude, this clock is not switching. This was more way more then sixty seconds. Yes, now. NOW, it's twelve. I'm leaving. Right now.