Hey, guys! For the first time in what seems to be forever, I am updating on time~... sort of. So, as you know, this will be the last chapter (well, except for the Epilogue) of Monsters Attract, and I realise that considering that this is technically the last chapter, it's really too short, and there are a lot of things left unsolved and not concluded.

I do realise, promise. I didn't do what I was planning (read: hoping) to do, and added some things into the previous chapter that weren't really meant to be there (meaning I didn't plan it and added it in on the fly). So yes, there are quite a few things that haven't been rounded up into a neat bow.

But hey, what are Epilogue's for? Anyway, I hope you enjoy the (technically) last chapter of Monsters Attract!

BP

Chapter 25: The Great Beginning

When Steve and Bruce returned, it was to a debate between Loki and Kagome, trying to decide what kind of magic had easier access. There were very technical terms and Tony, as it happened was referee. Natasha was content to watch amusedly from the sofa. Bruce cracked a grin and enjoyed the sensation of returninghome.

"I see not much has changed since we left a week ago." The four inhabitants of the room turned in unison to Steve and Bruce. They had already put their bags down in their rooms and made their way to the Avengers' common room after enquiring Jarvis where everyone was. Also according to Jarvis, Clint was on a covert mission, and it wasn't certain when he would return, due to the delicate nature of it. Bruce was sure that the AI had also looked through SHIELDs files. Kagome and Tony beamed at him, and Natasha and Loki offering him a small smile and a nod.

"Not really," Tony shrugged and smiled wryly. "Have a nice vacation?" Bruce nodded.

"Yeah, didn't really realize I needed it, even with the threat of Ross. Helped quite a few people, didn't we, Steve?" He looked behind him, up at the super soldier who nodded. Kagome blinked.

"Oh yes, I've been meaning to speak to you Steve." She grinned, and Tony and Loki exchanged cautious looks. What was she planning? "Would you mind…?" Steve, utterly confused, nodded slowly and went back into the elevator, followed closely by Kagome.

"Where will you be going?" Jarvis questioned. Kagome shrugged, and turned to Steve.

"Where do you feel comfortable?" Steve shrugged, and would have said his floor, but felt like going outside.

"The roof is fine." The doors closed and they felt the false cheerful demeanor fall off, leaving a tense atmosphere.

"So how was the holiday for you?" Kagome asked. Steve's expression twisted.

"I'm not sure I was actually doing anything useful apart from being someone for Dr. Banner to talk to." Kagome shrugged, now.

"I'm sure that if General Ross had discovered where Bruce had gone, you would have been instrumental in protecting him and getting you both away." Steve scoffed.

"I know why Tony sent me with Bruce." His voice was bitter. "He doesn't like me and the others could really care less of what I do so long as I'm not dead or dying and can still fight with the Avengers." She tilted her head in concession. She herself might not really like the man, merely on principle, but she wasn't going to start lying to him. Thinking back, save from making it clear that she wasn't just going to start talking about parts of her past, she'd never lied to any of them. In fact, she'd been startlingly truthful, more-so than any other time she'd been around humans.

The lift chimed to let them know that they were at the roof, and they both stepped out and lent of the hip-high wall surrounding the roof, looking out over the Manhattan skyline.

"What you saying is true, I'm not going to deny it. That's not fair to you, but you have to understand, out of everyone on this team, you are not only the youngest, but also the most well-adjusted. You may have been depressed, yes, and you may have led several missions in the defeat of Red Skull." She looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "But everyone else has hit a very deep pit and seen into the deepest abyss of the world, some several times, including Natasha and Loki due to their long lives. I'm pretty sure that Tony has also seen that pretty deep abyss more than once." She shrugged. "I'm pretty sure that the only one on the team with the exception of you that hasn't look quite so deep is Thor, but then he has the age and experience that you do not." Kagome turned towards him fully then, making sure he did the same. "You're only just twenty, and for all you've gone through, you're still just a kid." She waved his oncoming protest away irritably. "Yes, yes, you're technically not, you've been through war, but that was war. War is a bunch of people killing other people for stupid reasons. It was, in it's own way, necessary. Tony,Loki, Natasha, me, and even Bruce, have killed in situations completely different." Steve's brow furrowed.

"How are they different?" Kagome sighed at his naivety.

"Politics, revenge, escape, anger, just because we can, because they deserve it, because we can't control ourselves when loved one's are hurt, because..." Steve's face grew more horrified as the list went on, so Kagome trailed off, her own expression becoming angry. "What? You never killed because someone hurt or killed your own? Because you were so desperate to get away, to escape from somewhere you were willing to do whatever it took to do so?" He reluctantly nodded.

"I have." Kagome exhaled slowly and nodded.

"So do you get it? You come to us, the..." She fumbled for a moment, trying to find the right words, "damaged, the morally ambiguous, with your optimism, your naivety and your morals. We don't get how you can't understand what we went through to have the personalities that we do. It's difficult because you judge us for going though what we did and how we turned out to survive." She studied his expression for a moment before asking, "Is any of this making sense to you?" He was quiet for several minutes and Kagome took the time to study the late afternoon sun and how the city looked when it was bathed in it. Finally, he drew in a sharp breath.

"Yeah, I can understand it. It'll take some time to adjust to it, but I'll learn." Kagome smiled brightly at him.

"That's all we can ask." There was peace for a moment before Steve spoke up again.

"So what did you do while Dr. Banner and I were gone?"

"Oh, was kidnapped by Doctor Doom, killed the World Security Council, pretty much rescued myself from Doom's 'evil' clutches, got nominated as one of the future members of the WSC, defeated General Ross before he even got the chance to come to the Tower, and offered Natasha and Clint into our Pack (and by that I mean that the only members were so far Tony, Loki, and I)." She stated casually, totally deadpan. Steve gaped at her for a moment before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. She waited a beat and then giggled along with him.

When he finally got the laughter under control, he breathlessly questioned, "That's all true, isn't it?" Mock-insulted, Kagome lifted a hand to her chest, covering her heart.

"You wound me with your doubts."

When the two came back down from the roof, it was way past sunset, and the tension that had been between the two for the past month or so, if they weren't including that slight tension from before she made it incredibly obvious that she was extremely protective of Tony and Loki, was gone. So, her good mood permeating the air around her, Kagome walked over to Tony and Loki, who were sitting on the sofa - waiting for her apparently -, with a skip in her step.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Steve." She called back over her shoulder as she reached her lovers-to-be. The captain chuckled.

"Of course." He called back, the lift doors closing just slow enough that he could see her kissing first Loki, and then Tony before pulling them up from the sofa. He blushed bright red and decided it was none of his business, part of this new thing he was trying, called not judging. Not to mention, the less he knew of Tony Stark's and Loki's sex lives the better. He let the lift doors shut, taking him back to his floor.

Meanwhile, Kagome had pulled Tony and Loki to their bedroom. A smirk curling at her lips, she said, "My reiki take less time to train and master." Loki rolled his eyes as Tony huffed a laugh.

"You two are never going to stop, are you?" They reached the bedroom and stood for a moment, wondering what they were going to do first: change for bed, shower, or just relax in one of the armchairs. "You'll just carry on, long after I'm gone." Kagome and Loki both stilled. Then they drew him slowly to the bed, looking deathly serious.

Cracking a self-depreciating smile, Kagome said, "I didn't ask, before, if you wanted to live longer than your human life span allowed." She resolutely did not look at Tony. "I adjusted the formula for Extremis a bit more than I told you." Cautiously, Tony nodded his head, indicating her to carry on. "I extended your life by about five centuries. However, it's possible I could, by my own power, extend it beyond that." She turned dark eyes to him and took in his rather open expression, before continuing. "When my reiki examined your arc reactor, it also looked at your body. I could heal everything, including your liver," She deadpanned for a moment. "and I could even go so far as to technically freeze your aging as it is." Tony smirked.

"So your saying that I could technically live forever?" Kagome laughed, seeming surprised at herself for doing so.

"Essentially, yes." Loki said from where he was leaning against one of the bedposts. "With Kagome helping you along, you might even be able to outlive me." He joked with a chuckle. Shaking her head, Kagome sent him a teasing smile.

"No, according to mythology your supposed to set off Ragnarok." They all laughed. When they calmed down, Tony lay back on the bed, leaving Kagome and Loki looking at him with amusement.

"More time with you two then." He sighed. Kagome laughed softly.

"I wouldn't mind being a lover to the both of you, given time." Smiling softly, Loki walked around to the other side of the bed, sat on it and leaned over to her, engaging her lips in a kiss with ease. Tony smiled and looked over at them, pleased with the lack of tension in her frame.

"Good," He murmured, pretty sure that they weren't really listening, but wanting to say it anyway. "Neither would we." Then, when Kagome pulled away from Loki, gasping for air, he casually grasped the wrist closest to him and drew her down to him, not even bothering with dominating her mouth this time, just wanting a gentle exploration.

She shuddered suddenly and pulled back from the kiss, again panting, but not moving up any higher from him. Tony angled his head slightly and found out why. Loki, with sheer genius, had pushed up Kagome's top to her ribs and was pressing slow kissed to her back and hips. Kagome's eyes were dark, her pupil nearly entirely encompassing her iris, and half-lidded. She also didn't seem like she was going to be protesting anytime soon, so Tony began pressing his own kisses to her jaw, slowly moving down to her neck, introducing his teeth and tongue every now and then, coaxing a soft moan out of her.

Together, the two men eased her onto her side and then back, both of them surprised at the lack of resistance, and even the natural sensuality in her. Tentatively, Loki fingered the shirt, debating whether or not to remove it, what Kagome's limits were, especially for tonight. When she realised what he wanted, Kagome batted Tony away momentarily and removed it herself, and before they even asked, removed her bra. Smirking, she gestured to the two in front of her.

"Personally, I don't think it's fair that I'm halfway to undressed, and you two aren't matching that." She teased, eyebrow raised. They stared at her for a moment before taking off their shirts as well. She crawled forward, and after a moment of debating, sat herself firmly in Loki's lap. Just brushing her lips with his, she murmured, "I wonder how many High Priestesses get the opportunity to love their God." Groaning, Loki pressed forward, locking his lips with hers. Tony laughed, and busied himself with stroking the soft planes of Kagome's back, now and again moving them around to her stomach and gently rubbing the skin underneath her breasts.

"Are we counting the Greek Pantheon? In that case, I would say quite a few, depending on which God you were devoted to." Kagome broke away and laughed.

"I suppose that's true." Tony took the opportunity to gently grasp the back of her neck and draw her to him once again, giving Loki the chance to explore her torso. Sighing in contentment and pleasure, Kagome knew everything would be fine. Sure there would be fights, misunderstandings, danger, and hurt. But following that, there would be understanding, safety, and love.

Wickedly biting at Tony's lip and beginning to run her hand down Loki's chest, she silently added on sex to that list, eventually.

... Yeah, so feel free to comment on this as much as you like. And no, before anyone comments on Kagome saying she's not ready for sex, and then me leaving basically an implied ending that they have it - NO, THEY DO NOT. I did have it in my head that they'd stop after a few more kisses and Kagome would laugh and send the two to the shower to 'calm down' ;) however I felt that leaving this here, worked much better as an ending (admittedly more teasing).

Another end not would be a little clue to get you worked up about the Epilogue because I'm evil and I enjoy watching you all squirm. Basically, Kagome, Loki, Tony accompany Thor to Asgard, where Kagome meets Odin. In a sentence: Shit goes down.

BP