AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Dedicated to Joy, whom I didn't get to see all weekend cause she was in Canada.
This starts to take us into the next storyline and next chapter has a pretty nice cliffhanger.
WARNINGS: Language, Sex, Innuendo, Violence, Blood, Angst
ENJOY!
xxxx
"You realize that she didn't come home last night, right?" Tony asked Andy and Sharon on the phone as he got his things together. "They totally had sex."
Andy laughed and shrugged. "Maybe—or maybe she's doing this purposefully to make you think something happened, just to get back at you for the awkward sex talk that you gave her boyfriend."
"Don't put it past Angel to be a giant troll," Sharon agreed with Andy, nodding.
"She said she was fine when I called in the middle of the night—sue me for being worried after that whole torture fiasco." Tony said, not wanting to be teased.
He was on speakerphone with the two women and to be honest, he had been a little bit worried even though he trusted Steve with his sister's life. Tony had been more worried about her than normal since the kidnapping and torture and he had woken her and Steve up in the middle night just to inquire about her whereabouts. Angel had then told him that she and Steve had lost track of time and fallen asleep and though he could believe that for an innocent statement, he didn't think it was innocent.
"I don't know, I think she just wanted to stay with Steve last night after the three of us were pushing about sex." Sharon said shrugging.
Tony shook his head at that. "No, I don't think so—Iceman is a gentleman. I don't see him just letting her stay over in his place."
"You mean as opposed to sleeping with her?" Andy asked laughing. "It's only okay for a gentleman to have a girl sleep over after sex?"
"Well it certainly isn't very gentlemanly to kick her out after," Tony countered.
Andy and Sharon rolled their eyes at him and then after a little bit, they hung up and finished packing a bit themselves. Nick had made it seem like this latest problem was going to take a little bit and so they were going on a leave of absence from the school and taking care of the problem at hand. Sharon was looking forward to seeing Clint and potentially forgiving him, while Andy was looking forward to seeing Thor even though she wasn't sure exactly what she was doing there.
In all the this time trying to just get her life back on track, she was realizing that she was really starting to fall for the demigod and she didn't know what to do. She certainly couldn't be with him forever and he would outlive her and she didn't want to doom herself to that kind of angst when she had a life to live. Besides, what if in seeing Angel start to live her dreams, Andy changed her mind and wanted the whole package: husband, kids? Could Thor give her that?
"What do you think the surprise is?" Andy asked Sharon as they loaded up the car.
Sharon shrugged her shoulders. "I think that Angel and Tony have been going out of their way to try and make us think that it's the best thing ever…maybe it's nothing."
"You think they're being trolls?" Andy asked her, laughing a bit. "I don't put that past them."
"Neither do I," Sharon admitted laughing too. "I kind of want to see if they have done something though. It would be kind of cool if they did pull something awesome out together."
"They have been getting closer together—there's even a Gala tomorrow night." Andy told her smiling. "You going with Clint?"
Sharon looked at Andy and thought about that, wondering if she was even going to go to the Gala…of course she was going. It was for the company and that meant she would be supporting Angel and no doubt Angel and Steve were going and so she had to. That meant that Clint had better have a grand gesture to bestow on her so she could forgive him and tell him that they were going together…she didn't want to go without him.
"I don't know…maybe…" Sharon shrugged.
Andy laughed at that. "You need to tell him that you love him."
"You tell Thor that you're falling for him."
"Yeah, no…our situations are not the same at all."
"I don't care—you do it and I'll do it."
"You first…"
Sharon gave Andy a look at that because she knew Andy really well and she knew that no matter what happened Andy would back out of this. She had done it before and she would do it again, Andy enjoying making people do what they had said they would do and then backing out because she didn't need to. Well, she told herself she didn't need to and in the end she was helping her friends to stay true to themselves and each other and Sharon wasn't having it this time.
"No deal," Sharon told her.
Andy sighed loudly. "I can't tell him that. Our 'relationship'—if that's even what it really is—is already complicated enough and you know it. I can't grow old with him and have children, and I just…I can't ask him to be mortal with me either. We are living two completely different lives and I just can't drag him into my mess of a life in the first place. At least with Clint, you two can be in love and perfect and if you decide you want a future, he can give it to you."
"Alright, you're right," Sharon conceded, sighing. "I hate to admit it, but you are, like always. Thor is a god and you can't ask him to abandon Asgard for you."
"Exactly," Andy said as she started up the car. "So tell Clint you love him and Thor and I will keep having amazing sex and then deal with feelings when we get there."
"Yeah, because that's smart…" Sharon sighed loudly as they got out onto the road.
xx
The sun streamed in the window of the apartment that morning, Steve waking up first and stretching out, his eyes fluttering open. He smiled a little bit at Angel as she slept, her back to him, the sheets covering her whole body except for her bare shoulders and her arm outside of the covers that was holding the covers to her as she slept. Her curls were loose and disheveled, her breathing even and Steve gently stroked her hair, kissing her shoulder, which made her stir.
They had a meeting to get to today and she and Tony had to unveil the tower, making her rather happy that she was going to get to surprise the Avengers. She also was in a rather good mood to feel this close to Steve even though her lady parts were sore, but it was nothing that some Ibuprofen couldn't fix, she was sure of. It was sad but true that the torture had been far worse than losing her virginity and eventually it wouldn't even be painful for him to slip in as long as the foreplay was good.
"Good morning," Angel said with a smile on her face, turning over to face Steve before opening up her eyes, cupping his chin and smiling as he pulled her in close to him, leaning down to kiss her.
Steve nuzzled her nose with his own. "Good morning. You know, it dawns on me that your only clothes here are the clothes you took off last night…"
"As long as I shower and we stop by Tony's on the way to Headquarters so I can change, it doesn't matter."
"He's bound to tease," Steve said with a shrug.
Angel laughed gently. "Not if he's not there when we get there. He's pretty excited about our surprise, so I'm sure that he got up bright and early just to unveil it."
Steve smiled and returned the kiss she placed to his lips, stroking her hair and holding her close, happy about how close they were now. Their skin to skin contact was calming and when Angel pulled away, tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth, Steve found himself completely and utterly putty in her hands. Then she asked a question that made him a little pink in the cheeks and he had to make sure that he had heard her correctly.
"What?" Steve asked gently.
Angel smiled and got out of the bed. "Would you like to shower with me? It saves time…"
She had other reasons as to why she wanted to share a shower, but for now she was easing Steve into these things—and herself. While these were the kinds of things that she had thought about, she knew that Steve had spent the majority of his life wanting to be in the military and fighting the Nazis and doing good and he'd been a rather sickly and frail child/young man. Angel wondered sometimes if Steve would have even been able to have sex before the super soldier serum with all of the health problems that he had had. It seemed like he had ignored the girls a bit not just because he was focused and wouldn't just sleep around, but because maybe physically he couldn't.
Asking him that certainly wasn't going to happen.
Angel was brought out of her thoughts by Steve nodding in response to her question and getting up, Angel smiling and following him into the bathroom. He started the shower and they both got into it, actually taking a shower and talking to each other as they did so, still finding some time to check each other out. Steve found everything about Angel absolutely beautiful and he kissed her gently as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, Angel smiling a bit.
"Careful…I just might marry you," Angel teased happily.
Steve smiled and kissed her again, both of them getting lost in it for a little bit before getting out of the shower and getting ready to go to the briefing. Once there, they saw that they were just ahead of Thor, but Andy and Sharon had just gotten there and Tony had been there for quite a while, ready to go when the others were. Nick looked laid back, Bruce and Natasha looking like they were ready for business…and then there was one more person there that Angel had never seen before—at least not up close, she was aware of his work.
"Finally, you're here!" Tony exclaimed when his sister entered. "This is Reed Richards. Richards, this is my sister, Angela Stark and the icicle, Steve Rogers."
Reed smiled at her and stood up, holding out his hand to shake hers. "Nice to meet you. I've been working here with your brother and Dr. Banner."
"Pleasure is all mine," Angela told him as he shook Steve's hand too. "I've looked over a lot of your research and I have to say I'm impressed. S.H.I.E.L.D. is lucky to have you."
"He's teaching Bruce some control over Hulk," Sharon spoke up, smiling at Angel. "Seems we might be able to make him mad without making him green."
"That must make Andy very happy," Angel laughed, Bruce laughing too as Andy shrugged and then winked at Bruce.
Tony chuckled at that. "Might make someone else happy too, able to get his heart rate up and all without having to worry about anything…"
While Natasha's look sent Tony's way was rather subtle, everyone in the room knew about her and Bruce, so she didn't have to hide it. Besides, it was just like Tony to make a joke about sex and it was making him even happier as everyone took a seat…except for Angel. She said that she preferred to stand and when Reed said it wasn't gentlemanly to sit while a lady was standing, she slowly did, but she looked uncomfortable. In fact, Tony, Sharon and Andy all exchanged looks at her discomfort, Angel noticing and blushing.
"So, Nick, you said that this next mission was of extreme importance?" Angel asked before anyone could say anything, Steve keeping a pretty even face on the matter.
Nick nodded slowly. "Seems Loki is back in town, so to speak."
"Our father feels Loki has changed," Thor explained, shaking his head. "I do not believe him to be a threat but I cannot trust him either."
"I think that Loki changing his ways is like bleeding a rock," Sharon scoffed, laughing a bit.
Thor looked at her confused, Steve as well. "I was not informed that rocks could bleed on this planet."
"The reference is lost on me too…" Steve admitted, shaking his head.
"It means that it's just not possible," Sharon sighed loudly.
She was used to Steve and Thor not getting what the others were saying, but explaining herself didn't really make her all that thrilled. Sharon liked it when people just got what she was saying and she smiled a little at Andy when Andy giggled at how Steve and Thor really didn't know what was going on right now as far as the conversation was concerned. Still, they were focusing on Nick as he took over the conversation because he wanted something done and that meant now.
"I want these three to go," Nick said, pointing at Sharon, Andy and Angel. "See what Loki's up to because he's bound to talk to them over the rest of you."
Clint sighed loudly. "No."
"Clint," Natasha said in a warning tone.
"With all due respect, Sir," Steve cut in, trying to fix the situation. "I'm not sure that Loki will open up to them either. They were there fighting against him just like the rest of us."
"Yeah," Andy said, looking over the information, she and Nick making direct eye contact, "but he's rounding up mutants…"
xx
"What do you think you're doing?" Clint asked Sharon as he shook his head. "No…no, you're not going."
Sharon smiled a little bit and turned to face him. "Are you going to the gala tonight? Andy, Angel and I are just checking some things out and then we're heading over. You should be my date."
"Wait…what?" Clint asked her.
It was obvious that he was confused as to what was going on, but Sharon knew exactly what it was that she was doing. She didn't want to talk about Loki or the torture and right now she, Andy and Angel were working on keeping the topic away from all of that, and this was important. Tony and Angel were doing a lot of things for the company and Andy and Sharon wanted to support them in everything that it was that they were doing. Their closeness over the last little while was making everyone feel pretty good about things, but at the same time, it would only last for long.
"We're just doing some surveillance, so just let it go," Sharon told him shrugging. "As for the gala, I am supporting Angel and I wouldn't completely hate it if you went with me."
Clint nodded slowly. "Yeah…um…okay…"
"Just so you remember what you said," Sharon said quickly, closing the distance between them.
For a moment, Clint was beyond confused about what was happening because she had been refusing him and making him work for things and suddenly it was…easy. Suddenly she was letting him in and being the one doing the chasing and he had only just started to respond before she pulled back. It was like she was sealing the deal or something and Clint shook her head as she started to move away from him, pulling her into him and cradling her body with his before his mouth possessively covered hers.
At first Sharon was going to pull away, but the way Clint's hands roamed her body when he was being assertive like this, made her whole body shiver. She wanted to be with him and she wanted to kiss him, feeling her whole body flush with want as he bit her bottom lip, shaking her head and pulling away. Her whole body was on fire, but she needed to do what she was supposed to do and Clint was distracting her—albeit in the best way possible.
"Remember how much you like this when you're not calling me back…" Sharon teased, straightening out her hair and her clothes and heading for the door. "See you tonight."
Clint opened his mouth to say something, but she was gone, making him chuckle to himself and then go to find Steve and Tony, who weren't going to let this happen either. While he was doing that, though, Andy and Thor were having a chat because Thor was trying. He had never felt this way before about anyone and while Andy had feelings for him, she wasn't sure that he was going to be the one that she could be with forever…she was just so conflicted.
"You should be accompanied," Thor told her, reaching out to touch her hand. "I worry about you."
Andy smiled a little bit and rested her other hand on top of his. "How is this supposed to work, Thor? How? I don't understand how we can do this when you live in Asgard—I mean until the BiFrost is fixed…"
"I will always find a way back to you."
"I know you will,"
"Then we will figure it out."
Andy nodded and leaned up to kiss him, pulling back when she heard Angel come into the room with her gear, smiling a bit. She wanted more than anything to get this going right now and while she was glad that Thor and Andy were working something out, this was important. Loki was up to something and she didn't know what and after leaning down to kiss Andy again, Thor took his leave and then Sharon came into the room with her belongings.
"Ready to get to a demigod?" Sharon asked. "I'm ready to head out and ask about sex with the super soldier."
Angel blushed. "Wow…"
"Not like everyone doesn't know," Andy laughed, smiling at her. "Let's go."
"Fine, let's go and I'll tell you everything—anyone had painkillers?"
Angel, Andy and Sharon went on their way, manipulating things so that no one could track them because this wasn't surveillance. It never was with them. This was talking to Loki and after they had pinpointed him, they went to see him and it was like they were expected because everyone just let them in and they got a very bad feeling about this. Things almost felt planned and they weren't sure what to do about it all because they were like lambs being led to the slaughter…
"I was wondering when you three would up," Loki said with a smile on his face. "Come…let me show you around."
Note: Tony's about to get some good loving because in the story change, a lot of stuff got moved around…still, even Tony Stark needs love. Feedback is always appreciated!
