14.

The charm bracelet shone in the the light as Olivia held it in the palm of her hand, staring at it with a blank expression. It had been months since she'd last worn it, having banished it to the realms of her jewellery box shortly after she discovered she was pregnant, but it seemed like she'd never hidden it away once she held it in her hand.

She pursed her lips together. As tempting as it was, she couldn't pretend it didn't exist forever.

Sighing, Olivia undid the clasp and slid it onto her wrist.

"Hey, Liv!" Tony called as she walked into the lab. Tyra was with Jane and Darcy, both of whom needed a well earned break from their work, and the lab was occupied by Tony, Bruce, Thor and Loki.

"Hey. What are you doing?" she asked, hopping up on the lab table and frowning at the odd looking weapon that Tony was working on. She pointedly ignored Loki.

"We're just working on a prototype," Bruce explained, taking his glasses off to wipe them. He looked old and tired, as if the whole ordeal had aged him by several years, and Olivia suddenly felt very sorry for him.

"Is it some kind of weapon?"

"Yep," Tony said. "Pass me the screwdriver."

She didn't bother reminding him of his manners as Olivia picked up the screwdriver, her charm bracelet catching the light, and handed it to Tony's waiting hand. Loki quirked an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with good old fashioned guns?"

Tony gave Olivia a pitying look, but then went on to explain why new weapons were necessary when fighting an unknown enemy.

Listening to Tony proved a lot more difficult when she could feel Loki's eyes on her, watching her every move. They flickered up and down, as if assessing her, and occasionally focused on the bracelet she wore around her wrist. He was surprised to see that she had it.

"Can I help?"

"No," Tony said shortly. "Pliers."

"Why not?" Olivia grumbled, handing him the pliers. "I'm not completely useless."

Bruce gave her a wry grin and Thor chuckled low; Olivia glared back at him with resentment.

"Please Tony," she whined, batting her eyelashes at him as she stuck her bottom lip out. "I'm so bored. I'm a stay at home mom with no job, I need something to do when I don't have Tyra!"

"I saw the last thing you tried to fix. You're not going anywhere near this stuff."

"What was the last thing that you tried to fix?" Thor asked in his usual good natured way. Olivia squirmed uncomfortably on the table, hunching her skinny shoulders up.

"My brother's radio," she said meekly, biting her lip. "To be fair, it did work for a bit."

"Yeah, about two seconds before it exploded."

"Shut up, Tony."

Even Loki cracked a grin at the thought of the exploding radio. Olivia blushed, scowling, and tried to distract herself by picking up the nearest thing that came to hand, which happened to be a stapler.

"Why do you have a stapler?"

"We usually use it to staple things," Bruce said with a grin from the other side of the lab.

"Yeah, but this place is so full of high tech gadgets, why are you using a . . . low techy-tech thing?"

Olivia started to play with the stapler, opening it and closing it, and waved her hand about to prove her point, sending staples everywhere.

"Oh. Whoops."

"Olivia!" Tony scowled. "You can pick them up now."

"I am not getting on my knees on this floor. Who knows what you've done to it."

"It's not like you're not used to being on your knees," Tony shot back. Olivia's response was to slide off the table, hit Tony hard across the back of the head and then proceed to collect the staples with the dustpan and brush that Bruce kindly offered her to make things easier.

"Right," Tony said, picking up the weapon and grinning. Olivia sat back on the table, crossing her legs. "I'm firing this baby up."

"Stark, no," Bruce protested. "It isn't ready. You have to test it on a shooting range!"

"I have a perfectly good target here," Tony muttered, aiming the weapon at Loki in a not so subtle manner. Thor chuckled.

"He isn't joking, Thor," Loki muttered, rolling his eyes at Tony and moving out of the way.

"Surely you do not mean to shoot my brother?"

"Of course not," Tony said lightly. "Why would I do such a thing?" He turned his back on Loki, this time aiming at the poorly drawn target on the wall; it looked like it was drawn with a marker.

"Aw hell no," Olivia muttered as Tony pressed the button. Before she could move out of the way, it exploded with a burst of light, shooting a large hole in the wall that missed the target and sending them all flying to the floor in a desperate attempt for cover. Olivia felt a sharp pain as her head collided with the table on the way down.

"You are an idiot." Loki didn't try to hide his distaste for Tony as he stood up, brushing the dust off his leather trousers.

"And you need to work on your insults," Tony snapped. His hair was slightly dishevelled. "It's only a prototype."

"A prototype you should've used outside," Bruce said, taking in several deep breaths as he also stood up.

"Are you alright, Bruce?" Olivia asked him.

"Fine."

Olivia was the only one to watch Bruce with worry; the rest knew that he could handle a slight fall. He had far better control over his anger than he used to.

"Are you well, Olivia?" Thor asked kindly, helping her stand up. She nodded, clutching her head.

"I just caught my head on the table, it's fine," she said, leaning against the table. Her cardigan had slid down and the bruises on her arms were clearly on display for everyone to stare at.

Realising that Thor was staring at her arms, Olivia grinned self consciously and tugged her cardigan up, running a hand through her hair.

"I should probably go check on Tyra," she mumbled. "If I have concussion, Tony, you're paying for the hospital bill."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Tony muttered, now examining the remaining pieces of the weapon. Thor waited until Olivia had gone before turning on Loki, clutching his brother by the arm.

"Please excuse us," he said, hauling Loki out of the lab. Tony barely noticed as they left.

They rounded a corner and it was only then that Thor slammed Loki against the wall, seething with anger.

"Did you harm Olivia in any way last night?" he demanded furiously.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Do not lie to me, brother, I saw the bruises on her arm!"

Loki looked at Thor for a long time, realising that Thor wasn't as stupid as he always thought him to be, before finally nodding.

"Believe me when I say that no one regrets it more than I do."

Looking disgusted, Thor released Loki, letting his brother fall to his feet. To harm a woman was disgusting, but to harm the mother of your child was worse. Thor could never intentionally hurt Jane.

"You claim to care for her and yet you continue to harm her," Thor finally said in a low voice. "Believe me when I say that if you so much as raise your voice at Olivia again, I will make you regret it."

Loki could only watch his brother storm away from him.

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