Sorry for the long wait :) This chapter still continues from the press conference itself. Finally I present to you, *dramatic pause* the 10th chapter!

Disclaimer: Characters mentioned below are owned by Marvel.

Continued...Still on the day of the press conference

Somewhere in Tony's lab

"Loks what'cha doing down there?" Tony asked, climbing up the stairs that connected his two labs. He and the team just had a sort of lunch/tea break.

"Reading. How's your meal, Tony?" Loki asked back, not looking up from the sofa he was curled up in and reading some holographical prints.

"Fine, thank you. What are you reading exactly?"

"Your notes?" He offered with a smile.

"Uh-huh. If you try anything funny..."

"Don't worry I won't. Even Jarvis knows that I won't."

"Rhodey's coming here on the third."

"Yeah... I heard. He's coming here for five days isn't he?"

"Well, I think so. He wants a real break after all this fiasco."

"Poor guy, he had to go through all of your messes." Loki joked, waiting for Tony's reaction.

"Noo not my messes-wait what? How did you know that?" His face now reflected fury.

"I went through some of your files. All that Jarvis allowed me to read."

Tony groaned. His good little boy Jarvis lent him files to read. "Just make sure you don't misbehave. Phil will still be here until futher notice."

"Sure thing mom."

"Very funny, Laufeyson."

Their banter resided as Tony went to work on his armours' electrical systems and Loki continued reading.

'Inter-dimensional portal huh? Little does he know that I can transport things from 2 different dimensions?' Reading Tony's notes about the tesseract and the inter-dimensional portal

"Tony is there anyone else coming to visit you?"

Tony wondered for a moment. "Nope. Why?"

"Nothing."

'This little reunion will be just perfect for my plan.' Loki smirked mischievously in his mind.

Tony's mind: It's kind of weird that Loki keeps calling me Tony instead of Stark. Only my true friends, excluding Obadiah, call me by Tony. Is he really trying to strike a friendship with me?

3 days later, in the Avengers' common room where most where assembled. Afternoon time.

It was mostly a boring afternoon. Pepper had been with them as she was sorting documents. Steve drawing. Bruce reading research papers. Thor almost dozing off. Clint and Tasha watching boring TV shows. Jarvis' calm British voice interrupted their moment of boredom.

"Sirs and ma'ams, Colonel Rhodes has arrived and is taking the lift to this floor now."

"Colonel who?" Clint asked.

"Tony has an appointment today?" Steve asked instead.

"Col. James Rhodes is Tony's friend. Tony calls him Rhodey. He's here for a short leave." Pepper clarifies.

The lift door opens with a ding. Rhodey casually dressed in a blue T-shirt and jeans carrying a silver suitcase stepped out. He is stunned momentarily by the amount of people gathered.

"Rhodey! Nice of you to come!"

"Pepper!" They both exchange greetings. After Pepper became Tony's PA, she and Rhodey got acquainted. After Monaco, the three became best friends kind of thing.

"I didn't think there would be a welcoming party." Rhodey joked. After a closer look, Rhodey asked, "Wait a minute, I recognise them. Are these the Avengers?" Rhodey himself felt stupid for asking such a question. Tony would have not allowed them into his Tower right? Right, guys?

"Yeah, we're the Avengers. Tony didn't tell you we're living here?" Clint asked.

"Living?" Rhodey turned to Pepper. Pepper giggled at his expression.

"Yeah, Fury got them housed under the same roof." Rhodey was speechless. He was introduced to each of the Avengers and Phil. Tasha was the last.

"You remember me?"

"Yeah, thanks for saving Tony back then."

"No problem. The world needed it." Natasha quipped back.

Rhodey sat down with Pepper as they got to know each other.

"I'm guessing Tony didn't tell you guys about me coming."

"No he didn't. But did tell us much about you other than your name."

"So how are you guys doing? Used to this luxurious environment."

So they began to talk. Until Tony showed up in another elevator, the one that was restricted to the Avengers, Phil, Rhodey and Pepper. Rhodey went up to him.

"Honeybear! I didn't think you would actually join us." The others chuckled at the nickname. Rhodey rolled his eyes as they wrapped each other in a firm hug.

"Sure. How are you doing? Hope the reason you persuaded me to join you during my vacation is because you're dying."

"Nah. Just to have a little reunion. We both need a break from psychos trying to rule the world. Sorry about the last time." He said, muttering the apology guiltily.

"It's okay. We're cool now Tony." He assured him.

"So how's your suit holding up?"

"Yeah its awesome. Flying is the coolest thing that ever happened to me!" Rhodey excited.

Tony laughed. "See at least someone agrees with me that flying IS awesome!" He said, referring to Clint's argument days ago. Tony sat down in between Rhodey and Pepper.

"Well, we can't know that for sure if you don't let us fly in that piece of technological wonder." Clint retorted.

"You just admitted my suit is awesome. But if you're thinking of piloting my suit, NO way. Rhodey did you bring your suitcase armour?"

Rhodey nodded, shifting the silver suitcase from the side of the sofa to beside Tony.

"Is that the same suit or a new one?" Natasha asked curiously (and suspiciously).

"New one. The other has too much weapons to be compacted. I only upgraded the weapons in it."

"Tony didn't tell me he was building another armour for you." Pepper asked looking accusingly at said mechanic.

"You're not my mom for me to report everything to you."

'I'll never understand Midgardian customs and speech.' Thor thought.

"Tony why's Thor here? I thought you said he went back."

"Might as well tell him about the guest." Steve suggested.

"What guests?" Rhodey was facing Tony now.

"Reindeer games is here." Clint deadpanned, using Tony's nickname.

Rhodey wondered who that was before coming to a realization.

"Are you out of your mind?! You told me to come here to have a break away from crazy villains and I follow you, just to discover that now you have your team of misfits not to mention a psychopath living with you?"

Tony was silent after his outburst.

Pepper stepped up. "He isn't that dangerous and he has proved that he has no true intention of attacking anyone. Of course he's not fully trustworthy. If he as much as plots anything evil, he'll be sent back to Asgard.

Rhodey's anger subsided but he was still mad at Tony for being misinformed.

"Give him a chance okay?" Tony whispered. Rhodey nodded. There was something Tony wasn't telling him.

"Excuse us gentlemen, we're going back to our lab now." Tony grabbed the suitcase before Rhodey got the chance.

In the lift, Tony and Rhodey started talking about the suit again.

When they got to the lab, Tony asked Jarvis where Loki was.

"Mr. Laufeyson has gone to his guest room sir. May I inform you that he was viewing the footage of Col. Rhodes arrival and discussion just now."

"Oh."

"Oh? You let him access your surveillance vids? I knew you were hiding something from me!"

"Sir, Mr. Laufeyson is not harmful. I only let him access data that are not confidential to him. He does visit the labs. For the past month he has proved to be trustworthy." Jarvis justified.

"I'll be the judge of that." He responded, ending their discussion temporarily. He was going to talk about this at a later date.

For the next few hours, they managed to improve the suits efficiency in battle by increasing power, including some more weapons that use minimal storage space and they came up with some new ideas for upcoming suits while chatting about ongoing events.

"Wanna go for a spin?" Tony asked with a smile on his face. Rhodey mirrored that smile. "Definitely!"

Rhodey's suit unfolded and covered him while Tony's was attached by mechanical arms.

The duo took off just as the clock struck seven. It looked so much cooler when they were flying in the night sky. From below, you could see two streaks rocketing at high speed, making narrow turns at different altitudes and switching places with each other.

It was good to be flying again with your long term best buddy. The adrenalin pumping was an added bonus. The two grinned at each other and blasted off in who knows what direction.

"Jarvis could you call the both of them for dinner?" Pepper requested as the others sat down with here.

"Both sir and Col. Rhodes have gone 'out for a spin' and have told me to tell you that they'll take about another half to an hour."

"Let the boys have fun, we'll eat first." She smiled at their reunion.

Loki was observing the two men have fun and found himself unintentionally smiling at their friendship. Subconsciously his heart was yearning for a best friend who wouldn't betray him for power or money.

-line break-

Rhodey had yet to meet Loki but Loki has decided that he won't make his appearance to Col. Rhodes that soon.

4th of July!

Independence Day and Steve's birthday!

All the household members other than Tony and Steve woke up at five to decorate the main common room. They were celebrating his birthday in the morning.

There were streamers and balloons everywhere, thankfully it wasn't only in red, blue and white. There was a large banner saying 'Happy Birthday Steve!". Some of them were cleaning up the leftover bits and pieces of decoration while tall people like Thor were hanging things up. Every hour Pepper would go back to Tony's bedroom to wake up but Tony was in a deep sleep. He hadn't been sleeping for a few days and had a dreamless sleep.

By six thirty Steve had woken up and finished his morning work out. He had gone to shower and change clothes. Jarvis told him to wear something more suitable for the events that 'are going to transpire today'.

Pepper had some snacks and drinks and was setting them on the table while Natasha and Clint went to collect the birthday cake.

Tony walked out refreshed and awake a few minutes later. He just sat down at the corner, wrapping his present for Steve while everyone was hanging things and perfecting decorations.

Pepper spotted Tony and walked over to him. "I thought I told you to sleep well last night so that you can help decorate the house!"

"I was too dizzy ok? Will sorry help?"

"When did you wake up? I've been trying to wake you up for the past few hours!"

"Honestly no idea. Reindeer games was the one to wake me."

"You just let a psychopath come and be your alarm clock?"

"No! He was the one-"

"I'm going to prepare all the food stuff but I'll have this conversation with you after the party."

"Fine." Tony mumbled as he went back to his wrapping.

Natasha and Clint came back from the store and they laid the cake on the table. There were 5 candles for them to arrange on the cake. They had initially wanted to include the 70 years that Steve had been frozen but in the end they decided its best not to remind him about the lost time.

Steve came in to grab breakfast when he realised the common room wasn't lit unlike what Jarvis did each day.

He was about to get him to switch the lights on but a "Surprise!" caught his attention. Everyone was sitting around a large rectangular chocolate cake which was in the middle of the room.

He had totally forgotten his birthday and mentally slapped himself about it. He looked at the room in a glance and saw how nicely decorated it was for the first time.

They sang the birthday song for their dear Captain and started eating the cake. It was lovely to celebrate a birthday with a real cake again.

After they ate they started giving their presents. Everyone who lived in Stark Tower had a lovely gift for the Capsicle.

Natasha gave a band new sketchbook with art materials like colouring pencils, crayons and normal pencils.

Thor gave a photo of the Avengers after the press conference. That's the only thing he could find.

They all had given interesting gifts. Tony was the last to give it. And he was surprisingly was the only one who wrapped it in wrapping paper.

"Thanks Tony. What''s this?"

"It's a surprise, you can't open it now."

Steve chuckled, ignoring the burning curiosity in his chest. "Alright whatever you say, Tinman."

"Ow, I just heard Captain America make a joke!" They shared some laughs with each other.

"Friends shall we depart to the movies now?" Thor asked. They had chosen to watch a comedy movie so that the Captain will be comfortable. As a result, Tony reserved seats at a nearby movie theatre to watch Despicable Me 2.

"Alright alright I get my keys and we'll go. I and Clint are driving." Tony announced as said drivers high-fived each other, Clint making a face at Natasha, "Told you he won't let you drive!"

Natasha was extremely tempted to smack Clint's head but for the sake of the national holiday she didn't.

Tony leaned over to Steve, "Hey Steve keep my present with you all the time. Its precious." Steve nodded.

At the garage/parking area for the Tower, Bruce asked, "How are all of us going to pile in?"

Rhodey, Clint, Pepper, Tony, Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Thor and Coulson were present. Nine people in total.

"We're not. Steve's not coming with us. You remember that present right?" Tony asked. Steve took that box out and there was a brand new key with a keychain. He took that key out.

"You bought him a car? That's injustice!" Clint fake wailed.

"Your ride's there." Tony pointed to a navy blue motorbike. Steve's jaw literally dropped.

"Have fun!" Tony said before he took his sunglasses and climbs into the driver's seat. There's a GPS system and a communication device installed in Steve's bike.

Tony, Rhodey, Pepper and Natasha climb into a hot-rod red car, to have 1 to 1 face time with their friends while Clint, Thor, Bruce and Coulson into a polished black one.

"Hey Cap, since Tony's driving will be off the charts can we race against each other?"

"Its on!" Steve agreed.

"If Clint wins you are just going to stroke his ego, birthday boy." Natasha playfully comments, in the car which had already taken off to the road.

Unfortunately, Steve arrived a whole minute earlier than Clint.

"Better luck next time!" Steve says patting Clint on the back.

They all have fun throughout the rest of the day, watching a movie, having playful banters, eating at restaurants and spending a large amount of money.

At night, when there is fire works celebrating the Nation's Independence, Steve goes to the rooftop of the Tower to watch the dazzling display. There is a gentle breeze caressing Steve's face. Steve sits down on a raised platform. Tony joins him soon after.

"Hey Steve."

"Hey Tony."

"Did you like your birthday present?"

"Yes, that was totally awesome!"

Tony chuckled. "Glad you loved it. Did you see the key-chain?"

Steve shook his head. What was so important about it? Steve takes it from his pocket to observe it.

There was a photo of the Avengers, the same one Thor gave, but it was melted on the key-chain. There was a caption, 'Avengers 2012 -Wherever you are your family follows you.'

Tony took it and flipped it to the back, showing the other picture, it was of Peggy, Maria and Howard a few years after his disappearance. "That was what Howard wanted to give to you after the war ended. I found it and made this. I know you miss the old times and they would've missed you too but they would want to be happy."

"Thanks Tony. It means a lot to me."

"Your welcome."

"Who knew you would have moving speeches?" Steve saw Tony opening his mouth and interrupted, "Uh uh uh no What-can-I-say-I'm-a-genius line Tony!"

"Alright you got me Cap. I'll leave you alone for a while."

"Good night Tony."

"Sweet dreams Steve." Tony disappeared down to his floor.

In Loki's room

There were angry women knocking at the door.

"Come in." Loki's muffled voice sounded.

Natasha and Pepper marched in the room. "Who told you could sneak into Tony's bedroom and wake him up just like that?" Natasha asked, strangling Loki's neck.

"Jarvis allowed me to."

"Jarvis! Is that true?" Pepper asked.

"Its not the full light of the situation ma'am."

"What did you do?"

"I did nothing bad! I promise! I found him passed out in the lab late at night! He wasn't sleeping for 2 and a half days!"

"Spill it all out!"

"I teleported him to his own bedroom and put him into a dreamless sleep when he started violently thrashing in bed. I went to sleep after that. I went back to reverse the spell after that."

"So hold on, you can go into Tony's lab and room?" Natasha questioned.

"And Tony doesn't mind." He added.

"If you try any funny business you are so going back to Asgard."

"Clear?" Natasha asked.

"Crystal." Loki was suffocating by now.

Natasha let him go and threw him back onto his bed before the two women left.

And thus, on the fourth of the July, Steve got treated to a wonderful celebrating while Loki got chewed out and Rhodey hasn't met Loki yet. Happy Ending! The End!

Hold on a second, I mentioned that everyone living in the tower had a present for Steve. Doesn't Loki count?

Jarvis tells me that Loki has gone to Steve's bedroom.

"Loki! Don't you dare hurt my favourite Captain in his sleep!"

In Steve's room, we see Loki putting the Captain in a nightmare-free dreamless sleep for one night. And that my friend, is Loki's present for the birthday boy.

Happy ending! How's this chapter on America's golden boy's birthday? Hope you guys like Loki's gift.

If you guys notice, Loki's up to a mischievous {but not an evil} plan. And that's going to take place when both Rhodey and Coulson are present in the house.

Stay tuned :D *mischievous grins* Muahahahah!

-thewriterstory
8 November