THAT SOON ENOUGH FOR YOU?

Here ya go, my loves.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Avengers. Arie is mine. (You'll meet her later.) But I give all credit for the rest of them to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they rock!

"Alright. First of all….you guys are lucky I was in the office when Principal Parkk brought you in. Secondly; you owe me so much for taking over this detention for you. This was no freebie; and I will expect a reimbursement of some kind." Lefore stood in front of his classroom after school, arms cross and expression stern, and Tony may or may not actually have felt a little bit of remorse.

Just a tad.

Lefore shook his head. "Talk to each other, then hug it out if you have to, but please, for the love of all things, work out your problems. I'm going to take a nap. I'll be back in an hour." And he was gone.

The second the door slammed shut Arie jumped up, shoes still squishing as she walked over to sit at Lefore's desk, beginning to rummage through his drawers.

She refused to be the first to speak. Loki put his head down.

And nearly ten minutes of silence reigned supreme.

In those ten minutes; everyone reexamined themselves…and were ashamed.

It was Tony, surprisingly, who ended the silence.

"35 days."

Everyone turned to Tony, who just shrugged under everyone's attention. "35 days ago was when the last two students were taken."

Bruce winced. "I don't even remember their names."

Arie stood, hands in her pockets. "David and Avery. They disappeared the same day."

Steve nodded. "David was the bully. I just kind of figured, good riddance, y'know?"

"I kind of literally forgot about all if them, to be honest." Clint rubbed his neck. "Oops."

Tasha shook her head. "That's the problem. Everyone forgot about those kids. The police have fed the public a reason to believe that each kid just ran off; and instead of doubting it, like any sane person would do, everyone's seem to have bought it."

"People would rather believe that teenagers are just being rebellious and running off instead of entertaining the notion that someone is taking them." Bruce bit his lip.

"And we all fell for the same line." Tony lamented.

Thor shook his head. "We deserved to get wet. We were blinded by the shallow excitement of a high school event; and we lost sight of what was important."

"Well said Thor!" Tony patted Thor's shoulder. "So…what are we going to do about it?"

Arie turned to watch the Avengers talk, a frown on her face, and Loki stood and walked over to stand by her.

"I'm sorry Arie." He spoke softly. Arie turned to him, eyebrows slightly furrowed. He shrugged. "You called them friends. We promised to help you find them. And we've been little to no help at all.

Arie shifted side to side guiltily. "I… actually didn't know them all that well. I just said they were my friends so you would feel bad."

He chuckled. "Well…we can't be mad at you for that."

Arie smiled against her will. "you deserved it."

Loki chuckled. "I won't argue with you there." He looked back over to the rest of their group and sighed.

"You know they can't do this without you." He mentioned, and Arie chuckled.

"Oh, I think they'd do just fine." Loki tilted his head, the light in her eyes was oddly...knowing? But that was ridiculous. Loki shook his head.

"The disaster that they were this past week, that we," Loki corrected with a snort, "were this past week. That WAS us without you. Obviously, we need you to lead us."

Are made a face. "I'm no leader."

"That's what a leader would say." Loki smirked.

Arie pushed him. "Shut up."

"Hey!" Tony pointed a finger at Loki. "Stop messing with my best friend."

Loki shot Tony a glare, but Arie laughed, a real laugh, and Loki relaxed.

"Sure, dude, I'm your best friend."

Tony shrugged. "You are. Now, are you two going to join us?"

Arie and Loki shared a look, then shrugged simultaneously.

"What are we talking about?" She asked.

Tony turned to Steve, who sighed.

"We were just reviewing suspects,"

"Of which we have four." Tony finished.

Arie frowned. "My boss,"

Bruce rolled his eyes. "The principal,"

"The vending machine supplier," Thor added, beaming, and Loki snorted.

"And Lefore." Clint completed the list.

"NOT the vending machine guy, Thor, sorry," Tasha shook her head, and Thor pouted, but nodded.

"It's not Lefore either." Arie spoke up.

"Now, Arie," Bruce began, "I know he's your favorite teacher, but,"

Arie shook her head. "He's sweet on my math teacher. He's always bringing her presents, but he tries to be stealthy about it." She turned to Clint. "You said he was looking shifty two Mondays ago?" Clint nodded. "That was my math teacher's birthday. I'd bet you anything he hid her present in that closet." Clint grimaced. Arie shrugged. "Plus, he was in Hawaii when the first two kids were taken."

Tony sighed heavily. "Which leaves us with two."

Tasha tilted her head. "Technically one."

Arie made a face. "Why is the principal even on the list anyway?"

Steve shrugged. "He spoke with each of them in the month before the kidnappings started. Plus, he has easy access to all of them…"

"And he's shifty." Tony added. "He's part of the group of adults trying to smooth over the "runaways".

Arie sighed. "Fine. He's a viable suspect. But so is my boss!"

Thor frowned. "How?"

Arie threw a piece of paper at Thor's head, who ducked. "Hey!" He complained.

"He just is!"

Tasha threw out her hands. "Alright. How about this. Arie, you take a team, and break into your bosses store. If you find SOMETHING, then we'll keep him on the list. Otherwise, we focus on the principal and our next steps."

Arie thought that over, then nodded. "I suppose that sounds reasonable." She admitted.

"What kind of next steps?" Bruce asked.

"I kind of talked to their friends, but that could be done again." Arie added.

Tasha shrugged. "We should probably see if we can talk to their parents."

"Oh! We could break into their lockers!" Tony grinned.

"We could nick the Principals files." Clint added.

"And, while I know we just talked about keeping our focus on the case, that doesn't mean I don't still have to find you all dates." Arie grimaced. "Yay."

Clint smirked. "But I'm done."

Arie laughed. "And that's why you're my favorite!"

She leaned over to give Clint a high five. Tony harrumphed and Loki frowned, and the conversation, good, productive conversation, continued.

Lefore reentered his classroom exactly one hour later, enthused by the bright chattering students.

"So are we mostly friends again?" Lefore asked, smiling. He frowned when he spotted his desk. "Arie, were you in my desk?" He rubbed a hand down his face. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Just get out. All of you."

The group shared a grin and hustled out. Arie slipped something into Tony's hand, and he looked down at it with a frown. His face cleared. "How'd you get this?"

Arie shrugged. "I was looking through Lefore's desk. Is it yours?"

Tony grinned. "Sure is." He frowned. "Did you do anything?"

Arie rolled her eyes. "there's a password." And Tony let out a sigh of relief. Arie turned her face away to hide a smirk. She turned back around to look back at the group.

"So are you coming over?" Bruce asked as they walked outside.

"Yeah." Clint spoke up. "You can tell us what you've overheard at the store."

Arie shook her head. "I would if I could, but I should get home." Arie shrugged. "Besides, it's nothing of importance. Most of the calls are to Principal Park; and all they talk about are random numbers and movie titles." Arie shook her head. "It's weird. But not important. Probably." Arie shook her head. "Anyway. I'll see you guys later, alright?"

The group nodded and said their goodbyes, and Arie turned to hurry away. Then she turned around again.

"By the way, Steve! Luke! I want you to break into the rental store with me tomorrow night Ok? Bye!"

She ran off without waiting for a goodbye, and Tony frowned.

"But I thought we were best friends," he complained.

Loki chuckled, patting Tony's arm consolingly. "She just prefers me."

Tony made a face. "Don't make me beat you up…again."

"Don't make me throw you out a window…again." Loki retorted.

Tony growled. "If the OTHER guy were here…"

Loki smirked. "except….he's not."

"But he will be later…" Bruce joined the conversation with a smile. "And he'll hear about this conversation."

Loki glared and went silent.

A few seconds later an audible gulp was heard from his direction.

And Bruce grinned.

"Yup."

"I've still got it."

Whoo! Next chapter is titled B and E. Guess what that one's about?

Next Chapter up soon ISH.

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My love to all of you!

~CLC~