Just as a fun fact, my mom took her Loki action figure and not only put it in her soda, but in some ice cream and in a box of milk duds. And then took pictures.
KiyUzumaki: Thank you :)
Jimmy 144: Glad you liked it :D
PeddieHOA: Wow, thanks so much! It's really great to hear that.
Ms. Smooth Criminal: Haha, I love Fandral too. Writing Tony is easy for me and therefore writing Fandral is easy too. I'm actually working on a Thor fic which involves him constantly flirting with my OC's younger sister and my OC uses Loki to get back at him. Ehehe. Loki is a badass. I don't understand how anyone could NOT like him. I do have big plans for him though...
MysticRyter: Haha that would be interesting. I like Black Widow with Hawkeye, but I honestly feel like it's almost like an automatic ship. Like when I first saw the Avengers and Loki was like "Is this love?" I'm just like "I'LL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP."
Itsgoose2u: Haha, thank you :D
Arrows the Wolf: It's okay to burst out laughing. I wrote I line said by a character to Fury in like chapter 23 and every time I read it I laugh.
AngelVamp6688: I would love for Bucky to come back. I've explained to my mom the whole Winter Soldier thing and I think it could also be something that Gwen could help Steve face like the whole fact that his best friend is alive, but he doesn't have his memories type thing. Also, you submitted the 100th review for this story so CHEERS!
Chapter Eleven
"D - did you say Atlantis?" asked Jane, her eyes wide just like everyone else.
"Yes I did, Miss Foster."
There was a stunned silence that followed. Then Tony began laughing.
"You're joking, right?" he asked. Fury looked Tony in the eye and Tony's smile vanished. "You're serious."
"Of course I'm serious, Stark!" exclaimed Fury.
"But how is that possible?" asked Hank.
"We found it while searching for a base of another agency. It's uninhabited. We fixed up and now it's livable."
"Where is it?" asked Pepper.
"In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean," answered Fury. "We believe it used to be above water, but it was flooded."
"But why there?" asked Gwen.
"The helicarrier doesn't have enough room for this many people. Besides, the labs there are the best in the world. I'm sure everyone will be able to have enough space."
"When are we leaving?" asked Bruce.
"We already did. Since there's not enough room on a single quinjet for all of us to go on, the helicarrier is going to land on the water."
"And when are we going to find out what this danger is?" asked Luke.
"When we get there."
"Why can't we know now?" whined Tony.
Fury sighed. "Just deal with it Stark. It will be easier to explain when we're there. There will be an announcement throughout the helicarrier when we arrive. You're to be on top after it happens. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," said all of the SHIELD agents. The rest nodded or, if they were from Asgard, stood up taller and looked like they were ready to fight something. Gwen wasn't too sure about them all.
"Good. You're all dismissed. We should be there in about twenty minutes."
Gwen watched as everyone moved around her. Clint and Natasha got up to talk to Barbara. Gwen noticed that Clint looked the happiest she had ever seen him.
Thor along with all of his friends, mortal and god, were in conversation. Loki, however, remained seated and was approached by Stephen, who began talking animatedly and using a lot of different hand gestures. Loki seemed only slightly interested.
All of the rest sort of talked amongst themselves. Gwen turned to Steve who was looking around at all the new people.
"Are you okay?" asked Gwen. She put a hand lightly on his muscular arm.
Steve turned to look at Gwen and smiled. "I was just thinking."
"Thinking about what?"
"Just some stuff."
"You're not gonna tell me, are you?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?"
Steve paused for a moment. "Well, I was just-"
"Come, my friends!" interrupted Thor's booming voice. "Let me show you the magnificent center of commanding!"
Gwen turned to see Thor happily leading the other Asgardians out of the conference room, followed by a giggling Jane and Darcy who was snapping pictures of everything with her iPod, but secretly as though she thought SHIELD would confiscate it.
"This is so weird," muttered Gwen as she and Steve walked out of the conference room, hand in hand.
"Wait," said Steve. He let go of her hand and went back into the conference room as Tony, Pepper, Bruce and Rhodey all came out.
"Hey, Gwendolyn."
Gwen turned to see Rhodey, his hand outstretched.
"Oh, hi," she answered, shaking his hand. "I didn't even recognize you when you came in."
"Yeah, well we only talked a couple of times."
"Did I say you could talk to my friend?" asked Tony, stepping in front of Rhodey defensively.
"No, but I don't listen to you anyway," she retorted.
"Bless her, she's using my own words against me."
He patted her on the cheek as he led his friends away from the conference room. Just when they were out of sight, Steve came back out.
"I gave the cards to Agent Coulson," he said, looking happy with what he did.
"The trading cards?"
He nodded.
Gwen smiled. "That was very nice of you."
And then they kissed before making their way down the hall.
"Bobbi, I just can't believe it!" exclaimed Clint happily.
"Believe what?" asked Barbara. "That I'm alive."
Clint's face suddenly turned red. "No, that you're here."
Barbara smiled. "I can't believe it either."
"What have you been doing all this time?" asked Natasha, who seemed to notice Clint's sudden awkwardness. She didn't like the look of it. Natasha would never admit it, but she had been slightly glad when Barbara had left. She didn't realize why for a while, though. Then it became clear to her that she thought of Clint as more than a friend. But she had said it herself, "love is for children." But she couldn't help but want to be a child when she was with him.
"I've been posing as a biologist," answered Barbara. "I was also doing some things on marine biology."
"Is that why Fury wanted to talk to you?" asked Clint. "Y'know, with the whole Atlantis thing?"
"Yeah. I happen to know more about fish than the average person."
Clint laughed along with Barbara as the two walked side by side down the hall. Natasha was slightly behind them, her lips drawn in a thin line.
Maybe she was wrong and Clint was just simply happy to have a friend back. But Natasha couldn't help but remember the way Clint looked when Barbara left.
And so Natasha remained silent as she tried to not listen to Clint, who sounded the happiest he had ever been. And it was because of someone other than Natasha.
