Sorry that this one took so long, and that it's so short and kind of everywhere, it was taking me a while to get back into the flow of it x I think I know where I'm going with this now , but I have lots of work and my work load is increasing after this week, so I don't know long it will be until the next chapter x Please read and review to tell me what you think xx :)

Loki had been understandably confused that his attempt to defeat the Avengers had been thwarted, as - as far as he could tell - Barton was the only one of them that had any idea of dealing with felines of any kind (from his time at the circus and those were considerably larger, and with much sharper teeth), and he'd had nothing to with their disappearance from where Loki had considerately put them for attack (ignoring the actually practicalities of attacking kittens).

And he wanted to know what had happened, in case they succeeded in using the method again (not that he was the kind to reuse tricks).

It was good that he was so good with magic so as to be excellent with concealment spells, or else he would've been spotted by either assassins, or the man of iron's unexpectedly keen senses, or else his brother would sense his magic nearby. As it was, he couldn't quite make it onto the Helicarrier, or the higher levels of Stark Tower, but was capable of going many other places with them.

It was easy enough to arrange yet another plot to get them out of their tower so that he could spy on them.

And he couldn't find anything about them, though tensions seemed to be running high between Stark and the rest of his team, for reasons other than his mouth and general demeanour.

It was odd.

Not that it was the in-fighting that was unusual - Loki had seen firsthand how much this group could argue when they really got into it - but that he couldn't work out what the reason was for it this time. It unsettled him.

There's always been something strange about the man of iron, beyond his complete inability to threaten people, nor to not insult them. That Loki can't read him shouldn't be as much of a surprise as it is, and yet there's no logical explanation for it. Instead it just is.

Maybe it's time that he discovers the reason for that. It's not like he's got anything else to do.


The more time he spends with the man of iron, the odder it becomes. Stark isn't just strange, but with every moment Loki is finding more and more similarities between the two of them - their public face, the lack of trust for almost anyone, the daddy issues, being constantly compared to a far superior role model. It's unnerving.

And Loki doesn't really like what he's seeing.

Beyond all the similarities, which all now seem so obvious, there is no obvious explanation for Tony's talent with house cats. Instead he finds that the man of iron has admiringly apt senses, having almost caught Loki on multiple occasions. He also has a strange grace when he walks, much better suited to the assassins, who have still not perfected looking natural whilst doing it.

Loki isn't quite sure what it adds up to yet, which embarrasses him more than he cares to admit.


In the end it is a passing comment that Clint makes whilst on the coms that makes him piece it all together. He's not surprised that he didn't think of it before - he didn't think it was yet possible on Earth, and certainly not to this degree - but it's not uncommon enough to not think of. After all, Loki himself has multiple children of varying animal genetics, including a horse and a snake.

To find that Tony is part cheetah is not all that surprising.

Nor is the fact that it causes tension in the team. Mortals have never been that good in accepting things they don't understand, and there are lots if things about Anthony Stark that are difficult to decipher.

Now that he knows what he's looking for, it seems so obvious to him. The grace, the speed, the agility, even the mind, and all his little habits like the twitching of his ears when he gets excited or senses danger and the tilting of his head just-so.

(He's been watching Tony really closely.)

He almost wonders how he didn't see it before.

And then, just for fun, he tries the kitten army again. Watching the rest of the team herded against the wall by kittens is just too much fun to pass up, especially now that his new favourite Avenger has an easy way out.

He'll just have to make sure that they're on opposite sides of the city.