A/N: So I've recently become a Star Trek (The Original Series) fan, and had not realized how closely Pon Farr and the Jotunheim mating season were, if you have not watched TOS, do it NOW! It's amazingness~

In a coffee shop not far from Central Park there sat a young married couple with their daughter, Annabelle, bouncing happily in her chair. Her hair was fair and she was probably around six. Old enough to understand that the man sitting on the far corner of the room felt wrong.

Very wrong.

However, she was loathed to interrupt her parent's silent communication; her bright blue eyes marveled at their simple way of interacting. With soft touches and a look here or there, she slurped her smoothie contently, swinging her legs to-and-fro.

Annabelle heard the sound of something rolling, curiously she peeked under the table (noticing that her parents were playing a light game of footsies) and noticed a small metal ball, ignoring it until it commenced blinking a bright red light.

She leaned down with her slim arms and reached for the ball. When she touched it, it rolled from under her touch in the opposite direction and went to follow it, her parents oblivious to her departure.

"Come here!" She giggled, following the strange ball until she reached the edge of the street. The ball was now making a random beeping noise and she picked it up in her small hands looking at it quizzically.

The beeping increased until you couldn't distinguish one beep from the other and suddenly…

"Annabelle NO!" But it was too late; the cry fell on deaf ears, as the bomb exploded leaving behind no trace of the girl…

"It's okay, it's okay, shh, shh." A cherry-red haired woman shushed the shivering child on the other side of the road as her companions rushed into the shop.

"Mommy…" Annabelle whimpered clutching at the leather of the woman's clothing.

"She's here, she's fine." Black Widow whispered lifting the girl in her arms and returning her to her grief-stricken parents. All three collapsed on the ground near the coffee shop as it was cleared and searched.

"Thank you, how… how can we ever repay you?" The woman asked looking up at her child's savior.

"Keep her safe, there's nothing to repay." Black Widow joined the others in their search… Tiod had left without a trace.

"There are certain universal constants, for example: a smile, no matter where you go, is a smile-"

"Tony, what are you talking about?" Steve asked, placing his barely eaten sandwich down to look at the man to his left.

"Universal constants, I thought that much would be obvious." Tony said, a faraway look to his eyes. They were currently in the lab the carpalfier pushed to the side- for they had needed the space to eat. No progress has been gained in the past two days; day in and day out produced only failure. It seemed that the more time went by the less of a chance they were going to separate using conventional methods such as a magnifier.

Loki kept his promise; no longer did they need the vexatious zipper to remove their upper clothing. He did seem a bit too calm, as if he knew something terrible was going to happen so he prepared for it by staying eerily relaxed. He had stated that his magic had returned in full a day earlier than expected. Good for him.

"Why?" Steve asked again, sipping silently at his warm water.

Tony sighed, leaning dangerously back on his stool.

"I'm bored; boredom, Rogers, is the leading contributor to irrational decisions. It could be deadly as well; I guess what I'm trying to say is… will you stimulate me?" Tony asked his voice dropping a couple of octaves and his brown eyes melting with some form of need, a want that he couldn't quite place.

Steve sputtered his drink and covered his dripping mouth with his free hand.

"Jesus Rogers!- Tony laughed out maniacally, his eyes tearing up- I was joking, oh… my… your cheeks are so red, I can't, I can't breathe." Tony exclaimed hugging his tummy as his body rocked with unstoppable laughter.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Steve replied sardonically; he wiped his mouth on a stray sheet of paper towel.

"But you know- Steve jerked his head to Tony's hand on his leg climbing up ever so slightly…- if you want to… I won't object." He practically purred the last sentence, his face inching closer to Steve's.

Then finally, when it seemed that the inevitable would happen Tony pulled back and whispered "Joking." With a very sly smile. Something in the eyes however…

Steve was worried. Two assaults in the same breath were not unheard of when concerning Tony, but they had never been so… so, laced with underlying tones of that. Whatever that may be.

They sat there for a couple of minutes, the silence louder than a roar from the Hulk. Steve sat there, trying to calm his treacherous cheeks and return back to normal.

He was about to state that they should resume eating when the swish sound of the lab's doors was heard.

"How many times have I said my lab is a no-no-"

"Not now Tony, Tiod is still alive." Natasha interrupted, dropping a golf-ball sized object on his desk.

"Um, thanks?" Tony replied, picking up the object with detached curiosity. Heavy, he would bet all the money he was about to make that it was made out of nickel or a compound of nickel or an ionized form of nickel or a- the point was it was made out of some form of nickel.

"I thought you had eliminated him." Steve said confused.

"So did I, but apparently a shot to the head is not enough for the alien." Natasha stated rubbing a hand down her face and through her hair.

"The others?" Tony asked, noticing the absence of the rest of the crew.

"Reporting to Fury on our findings, this bastard is leaving clues that lead to a dead end, that- she pointed fervently at the object in Tony's hands- is a bomb; it almost killed a girl near Central Park today." Natasha stated; Tony dropped the object as if it had burnt him and Steve caught it before it could touch the ground.

"It's deactivated of course, but it's the closest thing to his fingerprint that we have." Natasha said, grabbing a random chair and dropping into it.

"No use in crying over spilt milk." Tony sighed, looking pointedly at Natasha. "How's Pep?" Tony inquired, having known that his friend had safely made it to a new apartment yesterday evening without checking up on him.

"Adjusting, still shaken up, bitter as hell. I don't blame her; Shield isn't the nicest of people." Natasha said, her tone warming just a fraction. Tony raised an eyebrow but didn't mention the change in her voice.

"I can imagine, hey… thanks for… everything. You've done more than I came to expect from you so, yeah, you have my gratitude and all that jazz." Tony said sincerely. Steve had wanted to interject in the beginning of the conversation but he realized this was strictly a discussion between the other two parties.

"Don't need it, just doing my job." Natasha rushed out standing up and uncharacteristically stretching.

"Something tells me it's more than that." Tony snickered as she sent him a dirty look.

"Shut up, separate, fuck, or make a two-man Iron Man suit because we seriously needed both of you down there since yesterday." Natasha retorted somewhat seriously.

"Lang-uage! We have virgin in the room." Tony stated mock-indignantly shooting a wink in Steve's direction, said man just ignored the jibe and focused on his sandwich (and keeping the blush in check).

Natasha snorted and twiddled her fingers goodbye.

"Sometimes I swear we live in house full of Richards." Tony stated and picked up the bomb from where Steve had put it down.

"Umm…"

"Do you know what the nickname for Richard is?"

"No…"

"Dick."

"Oh."

"Exactly."

I'm in control of my emotions, I'm in control of my emotions, I'm in control of my emotions…

Loki repeated these words over and over like a mantra; he kept absolutely still, and longed for the turmoil of Magia Infirma. He would trade this madness, this heat, for a thousand- no- a million Magias. What was worse, was that it had ended a day prior to schedule, and although Tu'Matra (a word he came across on his readings, it meant: time of mating, at least in Jotun)* hadn't started yet, he couldn't help but feel the intense inklings of a beginning.

True to his word, he allowed the two Latched individuals their upper-body freedom, and knowing that they were content put him at ease, there was also the fact that his time had expired and he was now overstaying his welcome. Luckily they hadn't thought to kick him out yet, yet because it was a high possibility that they would.

Right this second however, he could feel the sweat rolling off him in billows while the air around him was charged with static, he could feel his false Asgardian skin fight to remain as his true Jotun appearance forced its way through.

He could not speak, not utter a word. Who knew what would come out, some strangled cry imploring that they help him; save him from himself.

Whatever gods where on his side were indeed quite powerful, Thor had departed from the vicinity quite some time ago and although the thought left him empty, forlorn even, it was better than the sweet, sweet, anguish he would be forced to endure for the next few weeks.

He contemplated running away, the prospect didn't seem so bad, open a rift in time and space, jump to some other galaxy, dimension, realm. Really, it was only a finger twirl away. But he hesitated, what purpose would another dimension do him, he really had no reason to leave (likewise he had no reason to stay, but he pondered that possibility less).

He heard a knock on the door, instantly recognizing the scent or scents really.

He took three deep breaths and rose to open it.

"You knocked?" Loki presented as greeting to the two disheveled individuals. Stark ran a shaky hand through his hair and Rogers's somewhat rosy complexion took on a ghostly pallor.

"I take it something, as you would say, is 'wrong.'" Loki guessed, crossing his lithe arms on his chest.

They both nodded and held their arms up; a knife was lodged deep into the middle.

"Well, this could prove distasteful, what were you thinking?" Loki asked, inviting the two individuals inside.

"We weren't- Steve gave Tony a pointed look- okay I wasn't, I got a bit desperate-

"I could tell."

"-and I happen to have a knife in a drawer somewhere, I thought that if we could cut it like bread we'd be free, obviously a miscalculation on my part."

"Hmm, and you expect me to fix it?" Loki asked an elegant eyebrow grazing his hairline.

"Either that or you have two amputees on your conscience for as long as you live." Tony said crossing his only available arm on his chest.

"Trust me Stark, I've had worse, however seeing as this is partly my fault-

"Partly?" Steve and Tony asked in unison, identical incredulous looks on their faces.

"-I will do my best to aid in your little, eh, problem." Loki continued as if he had not been interrupted.

Loki placed his hands on their clasped ones; he could feel their energies underneath his fingertips. Steve had a strong will, a determination to succeed above all odds (nothing surprising there), but he also held a great compassion for the underdog, he was kind, sweet, and only aimed to please, not destroy.

Tony on the other hand was complete chaos, you could sense his genius in there above all else, but he was a swirling vortex of emotions, hurt, being the strongest. They both shared many things in common, but it was their differences that made them unique, and right now, incompatible. They focused too much on their damned differences rather than their likenesses; they could both be so selfish!

"You both are very complex individuals, take that as a compliment, it is not often a Midgardian attracts my attention much less two." Loki said feeling calmer than he had in a month. However, he had a job to do and right now he was taking advantage of the situation.

He latched on tighter onto the two individuals until he felt the pull of his own magic centered in their hands. He split the magic in half and parted their hands enough to let the knife fall with a dull clank on the carpeted floor. The tug of the spell was like fire under his fingertips and he let the hands snap back like a rubber band that had stretched too far.

"So if you can do that, why can't you separate us?" Tony asked rubbing his wrist.

"Because my dear boy, if I tried, all of us would, for a lack of a better word, explode. The more I hold on to a spell of that magnitude, the more energy I'm exerting, it's really quite complicated and tiresome to explain." Loki said, feeling his walls start to tremble as he felt the presence of the Asgardian in the living room.

"Try me; I'm not called a genius for nothing." Tony (the insufferable) asked.

"If you must… could we continue this conversation elsewhere?" Loki asked his eyes going wide, the Asgardian was ascending the stairs, quite rapidly in fact.

"I don't see why, but whatever." Tony turned and led them out of the room.

Loki placed his hands on their lower backs and ushered them to walk faster, they were almost to the other side when.

"Loki!" Pretend you didn't hear him. Hard to do really, he was pretty loud.

"Brother, why do you flee?" Thor asked rounding on them just as quickly as they had tried to escape.

"I do not flee, you oaf, Mr. Stark simply had a pending question I would like to resolve in a timely manner." Loki said slowly, going over each word in his mind before uttering it. Every nerve ending in his body was acutely aware of Thor's presence; it lit a fire under his feet as he shuffled uncontrollably.

"Actually it can-

"No it cannot." Loki said quickly, he could deal with Thor if the other two were here, however if he were subjected to this torture alone…

"Well, seeing as this matter seems of import, I'll keep the announcement brief. Mother wishes me to greet you and that she expects her son to return soon, she misses your talks and wishes to congratulate you on another successful completion of your magical cycle, also- Thor leaned in and gave Loki a quick peck on the cheek- she also extends her greetings to the Avengers so, Man of Iron, Captain." Thor ended pecking their cheeks as well.

"Tell mama Frigga I said hi, but next time, warn a guy will ya?" Tony said rubbing his cheek and chuckled softly at the confused look Steve held.

Loki's lids were hooded and he nodded curtly, pushing the other two out of the vicinity.

His heart was racing god-knows-how-many-miles-an-hour, and his breath escaped him. He had to control these emotions, or it could spell something quite catastrophic for all of them.

ooOOoo

"Mr. Stark, if you were to heat a substance enough, what would happen?" Loki asked after they had retreated into the safety of the lab.

"Obviously, it would melt." Tony replied bored, he twirled a Phillips screwdriver in his hand.

"In most cases yes, but what if you heated said substance in a confined space?" Loki asked again.

"It would explode, ah I see, so you're saying the spell is the substance, the energy the heat, and you the confined space?" Tony asked dropping the screwdriver.

"Quite correct, you are indeed a man worthy of your titles." Loki praised.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out." Tony said pulling the device closer to his face.

"Take a compliment would ya'?" Steve said positioning their hands into the device.

Before Tony could retort Loki moved to observe.

"Quite a curious contraption you have here, ingenious to say the least, but what is its purpose?" Loki asked tracing the eye piece with a long finger.

"It's a magnifier, I'm trying to see what's holding our hands together, if I can figure that out then I can reverse it." Tony said. "So far, we haven't been able to pull our hands apart long enough for me to catch anything, I blame it on Steve's lack of strength, but now that I think about it… you could probably help us." Tony said ignoring Steve's nails digging into his skin from the jibe.

"Even if I were to assist in this futile attempt to dissuade my magic, I do not understand how you could possibly build a contraption that could withstand the strains of said magic." Loki replied skeptically.

"One thing you don't understand Loki, is that magic is only science we don't understand yet, there has to be some sort of field that's holding our hands together, they remind me of polar magnets, north to south. The stronger the pull the harder to pull apart, however, I have to be certain of this field before creating anything. I wouldn't want to electrocute the both of us." Tony finished, looking around his lab. He had an unfinished project here, an open bottle of something there, Dum-E on standby over yonder. The sooner he could finish this problem the sooner he could go back to being Tony. If all else failed and they somehow succeeded in separating by using non-conventional methods, then at the very least it was a nice team building exercise. Shield knew that if any two partners in the team needed to work on their communication skills it was those two motherfuckers.

With that in mind they set out to separate their hands.

Tony and Steve both realized that evening that Loki was much stronger than he appeared, at one point in time Tony had to stop him because it felt like his wrist would pop out of place.

Had Tony been even minutely distracted he would have missed the slight electric blue current that ran through their fingers for a millisecond.

"Stop!" Tony exclaimed halting the trickster on his tracks. "Jarvis, replay the last segment and slow it down ten times, please." Tony said staring at the screen intently.

"There! Stop, what is that Jarvis?" Tony asked, staring at the millions of electric tendrils between their hands.

"According to the scans, it appears to be a high level electromagnetic field, each able to power a small house, if you persist in the separation of your hands the energy will black-out three fourths of New York sir." Jarvis replied, zooming in and examining each tendril independently.

"Wow." Tony said amazed, and above all, relieved. The look on his face was one of pure hope and awe and just… he was so happy!

He looked at the other two with renewed determination.

"We did it guys." Tony whispered. "WE DID IT!" he shouted, bringing the other two into an awkward hug.

"So you know what to do?" Steve asked skeptically. He looked at the screen and back at Tony.

"Yes, I just have to create a reverse electromagnetic field that won't kill us and figure out a way to step inside, again, without killing us, and we'll be free Steve, we'll be free!" Tony exclaimed animatedly.

"This seems like a cause for celebration." Loki piqued in, still standing in the awkward circle.

"Yes, yes, it is."

"I think a bracelet would work, it would concentrate the anti-electromagnetic field and release you, in theory of course." Bruce suggested drinking his spiced tea. Tony seemed so excited he had completely ignored his own drink.

"It's gonna take a while to build something so small yet so powerful, it's like an arc reactor; to concentrate so much power in one small device would require a whole new formula…"

Steve let the conversation fade out, he was oddly quiet, his bottle of water untouched in his free hand. Sure he was happy with the outcome of this newfound information, it meant no longer having a wild card attached to his side 24/7, 365. He would be lying however, if he didn't admit to having gotten used to the reassuring heat of Tony's higher-than-average body heat, that he wouldn't miss the pull on his arm at random moments, that he wouldn't feel empty in his bed once they separated. It had only been what, a month? Two? He'd already gotten so accustomed to their routine that it felt as if he had lived it his entire life.

However, he had noticed the relieved look on Tony's face when he found their way out, the way he latched (for the lack of a better word) to the idea of freedom. It was obvious this had been torture for the genius, to have to live next to someone he didn't care much for, share his bed, his bath, his nightmares, and his weaknesses. No, he knew Tony didn't hate him now, but he knew well enough that he hated the situation.

He was happy for them, really, his feelings of rejection were illogical. Tony and he weren't an item; they were comrades, companions against the evils of their world. Nothing more.

Then why did the prospect of separating cut through him like a knife?

"You'll be a free man again Rogers." Clint joked shooting him a wink.

"Uh? Oh yeah, back to the wonderful life of Steve Rogers, we all know how exciting that is." The rest of the team (even Loki) laughed. He smiled a little, yeah it hurt but he'd be alright.

"No kidding, and what's the first thing you're gonna do Stark?" Clint asked Tony downing his drink.

"Me, I'm taking a much needed flight through New York, and then probably invent something awesome, I don't know. What would be the first thing you'd do if you were in my situation?" Tony asked, finally paying some attention to his tumbler.

"Oh I would climb the highest thing around and shoot a shit-ton of arrows at the closest thing I could find. Non-human of course." Clint replied pretending to shoot an arrow at Bruce.

"Ha-ha, well I know the first thing I'd do would be take a much needed vacation to a nice and quiet place." Bruce said looking at Thor for his input.

"Well, I would never find myself in such a compromising situation, but if I were to be freed of the confines of my companion I would wield Mjolnir and find some large game to hunt." Thor said, pretending to swing his hammer to the next person.

"Like Thor said, I would never find myself in such a situation, but if I did get myself free I would go on a long solo-mission so as not to see your faces for a while." Natasha said looking at Loki who was the last to reply.

"Cold Nat, cold." Clint retorted.

"Since it is quite impossible to place a spell on one's own person I would have no need of answering such question, however, if we were to suspend reality, I would have to work on my enchanting skills and reevaluate my choices in drink." Loki said which got a laugh out of the rest.

"All right, all right, stop making fun of us; we're not separated yet, but here, to mistakes and geniuses to fix them." Tony said, holding his tumbler up.

"Aye!" They all replied.

"Well this seems interesting."

"What, the fact that the one that calls himself Iron Man and the one that calls himself Captain America are in a very compromised position?"

"That, and the fact that young Stark forgot to dispose of the nickel ball"

"Does that mean we have the co-ordinates?"

"We do, we do indeed."

I know I said I wouldn't wait another 3 months(shit) to post but school let out and I had A LOT of stuff to do, most of this was done already, just had to finish. Hope you enjoyed and watch Star Trek TOS, Spirk is soooooo cute. Also there will be some edits in the previous chapters, not too much, but every 10 chapters I'm thinking of doing this. Please R&R, thank you!

*Made that up :)

Edit: 9/29/2014 BTW, all that electric jargon, yeah, making it up as I go, so don't think I'm a mad scientist or 'enethen. Just a rabid (professional rabid thank you very much) fangirl.

[EDIT: 3/21/2015]