A/N Thanks for all the awesome reviews, guys! You all rock serious awesome sauce :)
Please note that for this chapter I will be doing as a friend of mine, KD Skywalker, did which is sort of mixing the heights of the actors with their comic counterparts. IE Renner is 5'9" but Hawkeye is 6'3" in the comics, therefore in this story he's going to be around 6-even. Understand? Awesome!
Also, to clear the air, Little and her sister are 5'2"
I'm sooo sorry for the long wait, guys! A whole week! D: Please forgive me? Hopefully this chapter will make up for it all!
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Thunder, Lightning, and Christmas! Oh my!
The morning of Christmas Eve found Little curled up as a cat on her bed, purring along side Ember. The orange and white kitten was snuggled up against her belly while Little lovingly cleaned the top of her head. She had just returned from another evening at Peter's and was beginning to feel guilty for all the time she was spending away from her darling little girl. Little knew she would probably never be a real mother, but she was perfectly happy to settle raising the kitten as though she were her own. She loved Ember in a way that no one else could ever truly understand or replicate the bond they had. Stretching out with a wide-mouthed yawn Little wrapped her foreleg around the kitten and pulled her close. Nap time with Ember was always so relaxing. It gave her plenty of time to just think. Little really needed to think. However, the thinking could wait until later. She mentally smiled as she continued to cuddle her "daughter." Peace and quiet…
Knock, knock, knock!
She started growling. So much for peace and quiet…Sitting up and stretching out, flicking her long black tail this way and that, she glared at the door deciding whether or not to allow access to whoever was on the other side. Letting out a huff of a sigh, she meowed at the door.
Bruce poked his head inside. "Hey, Jo. Glad to see you're up. So, there's a big breakfast downstairs if you want to join in. Apparently Natasha was teaching Steve how to use all the really high-tech appliances Tony has since he knows how to operate the basic ones and it escalated into breakfast. He's rather proud of himself, really. Care to join in before the bottomless pits eat everything?" At first he wondered if she could even understand him until he remembered her telling him that she can understand English in any form.
Little let out a huff before stretching and opening her maw in a wide yawn, flashing pearly and dangerous looking fangs. Taking in a deep breath, she sighed and shifted. It was a slow, relaxed change, nothing like Banner had seen before. He was used to split second changes that he would miss the majority of if he blinked. As he watched her he could see her features turning from feline to human. It was almost laughable towards the end as her nose hadn't changed back and she still had whiskers. The very last things he noticed to change were her pupils. He noticed how the slower change brought her more animalistic qualities to light. Her features had a soft, feminine appeal, but held harsh angles as well. Her eyes always seemed to be alight with some kind of curiosity. Banner stopped studying her like some lab experiment as she stood from the bed with a stretch.
"I suppose I could eat. Though, I'm not sure I trust Rogers' cooking…"
Banner chuckled softly and gave his tilted grin. "Nothing got burnt as far as I know and it all seems edible to me."
She bent and twisted for a moment making parts of her body snap, crackle, and pop much in the same fashion as the popular breakfast cereal. Picking up Ember, she walked over to the door. "Well, hopefully I won't die of food poisoning."
The scientist looked at her with a brow raised. "Why exactly do you hate Steve anyway? I'm not all that big on understanding social interactions, but you seem to get along just fine with everyone else when they aren't your current ex-boyfriend who pissed you off."
Little let her kitten jump down to the floor as they got to the staircase. "Honestly? I just don't like him. I suppose I could say something like our personalities don't mix well, but I really just don't like him. Shallow? Yes. Truthful? Hell yes."
"So, you really just don't like him? At all?"
She shrugged as they made it to the door leading into the living area. "If this breakfast actually tastes good I might reconsider a few things." When she stepped into the living area she suddenly found herself on her toes with her nose in the air taking a deep sniff. Damn it all if it didn't smell absolutely fantastic! She looked around the room to find the rest of the Avengers scattered about. Stark and Pepper were sitting at the table with their plates of food. Little realized Banner must have meant the billionaire was the bottomless pit seeing as how he had a mound of food enough to feed a small family. How is he not incredibly fat? Romanoff was perched on the edge of one of the sofas with her plate, watching Rogers toss another pancake off the griddle and onto the steadily growing stack. While Banner went to get himself a plate her eyes found Barton. He was leaning against the kitchen counter with his plate and chatting easily with the couple sitting at the table and the man preparing the food. Little had to force her thoughts towards malice. Why did he have to look so…good? He was wearing a plain white tee shirt and blue and white striped pajama pants. His hair was all mussed and it looked as though he just woke up. Squaring her shoulders she grabbed a plate from the stack and began dishing out a breakfast for herself. She had her heart set on some perfectly delicious and fluffy looking pancakes big side of eggs along with bacon. Oh, glorious bacon!
As she stepped close to him to get some of the fried pig, Barton gave her a small nod. "Morning."
She didn't answer him.
By her feet, Ember meowed loud enough to be heard over the quiet din of scraping utensils, chatting, and the clinking of dishes.
The noise ceased.
Little looked down. "Can I help you, Your Majesty?" Damn it…
The kitten pawed at her ankle and gave a rather demanding sounding meow.
"Alright, alright. Fine." Turning to the captain, she nodded to a cupboard. "Hand me a small bowl, would yah, Cap?"
Everyone watched in curiosity as she took the small bowl and set it down beside a larger bowl filled to the brim with steaming scrambled eggs. Little scooped some of the yellow chunks into the dish and tore up a piece of bacon and a sausage link over it. After mixing it all with a fork, she took her own plate and found a seat at the table. Little set the bowl down. It was soon attack viciously by the kitten who was all too happy to devour the human food.
Stark had a piece of sausage on his fork and chipmunk cheeks full of food as he watched Little dive into her breakfast. Now, personally, he always ate the main dish first than started in on the sides. However, he noticed Little practically inhaled the meat and eggs first before starting in on her pancakes. It made him wonder…Swallowing and taking a rather noisy slurp of coffee, he pointed his sausage-topped fork at her. "You know, Fifi, I always pictured you as a vegetarian. I mean, I haven't really kept track of your eating habits, but I assumed you preferred rabbit food seeing as how you can, well, turn into a rabbit."
Little chomped down on a sausage link and raised a brow at him. After swallowing, she grinned. "You'd think that, however seeing as how I can also become what eats the rabbit I've never really found eating meat as a bad thing. When I was younger I contemplated being a veg head, but decided against it. I just like meat too much."
There was a silence in the group that was broken by Stark bursting into laughter and almost face-planting into his food.
Little thought over her last sentence before slapping a palm to her forehead and sighing. "Shut up, Stark." After enjoying a mouthful of eggs, bacon, and a small piece of pancake she turned to look at Rogers who had finally turned the stove off. "I gotta hand it to you, Cap, you might be a socially awkward mess, but you make a mean breakfast."
The man set her with a hard stare, but only shrugged. He knew it was pointless trying to get anything out of Little that wasn't coupled with an insult. Hell, he was surprised she had even complimented him in the first place.
Pepper wiped her mouth and looked around the room as she stood. "Alright, listen up everyone! Tomorrow is Christmas, which means tomorrow night there will be Christmas dinner. All of you will be in attendance and all of you will behave properly. This means no insults, no bickering, no fighting. Also, if you'd like guests can be invited. Whether or not any of you like it, I've already invited Fury. This way he can check up on the status of things, especially Kaleigh's lockdown. So feel free to invite anyone over; friends, family, whatever." When she looked around she suddenly realized what she said. She was standing in a room with six people who were all pretty much family-less. She would have backed away slowly had she been able to move from under the rather unamused gazes before her. Good goin', Pepper…
Stark jumped up with a big, shit-eating grin. "Well, seeing as how Pepper has thoroughly made an ass out of herself, why don't we just pull out a phonebook, flip through the pages, and stop at the most interesting names, yeah? Awesome! I'm callin' Rhodey! Hey! Fifi, you've got a sister, invite her over. Last time we saw her you were bald and in a coma."
Little glared at him and threatening him with a fork, unable to speak the threat due to her mouth being full of pancakes. After swallowing, she looked around the room and raised a brow. "So…Does everyone here come from a more fucked up than usual family life? Is that one of the job requirements to being a superhero?"
There was a moment of silence as the group thought about their respective shortcomings in the family department.
Stark beamed a smile. "So, Fifi, that sister of yours?"
She waved a forkful of pancake at him and gave a nod, unable to speak once more seeing as how her mouth was full…again…
By then Pepper had shrunk back into her seat and the conversation had slowly begun to build once again. She looked over to Little across the table from her, looking incredibly guilty. "Sorry…"
The raven-haired woman smiled after swallowing. "Not a huge issue, Pepp. Sure, not the best way to remind have of us we don't have real families, but you were just going." She tapped her freshly emptied fork on the plate before her, her good-natured smile fading as her eyes fell to the empty plate before her. After taking her good sweet time to chew and swallow, she gave Pepper a weak smile after glancing around. Rogers and Romanoff were making enough noise in the kitchen with the dishes and it seemed Banner must have taken his plate and skedaddled on down to the lab. Barton and Stark were bickering over who got the last couple slices of bacon, neither willing to budge on their concept of ownership. She took a breath. "Hey, if you're not busy can I talk to you about something?"
Pepper's redhead snapped back a bit, shocked by the sudden request. She smiled softly. "Of course."
Little stood and put her dishes in the sink. "Well, Rogers, breakfast certainly wasn't disgusting."
Romanoff rolled her eyes. "Oh, c'mon Little, just tell him it was delicious."
"Hey, I already complimented him once today. Be happy it's happened twice."
After dropping off her things in the sink she gave Pepper a look and went to the stairs. She jogged up to the Suite Floor with Ember in tow and settled down on one of the couches to wait or Pepper. There was a need within her to talk to someone either than her naïve kitten and to who the issue was about. The only person in the Tower she usually talked to her problems about was down in the lab, a place she was still barred from going. Yeah, she could ask Jarvis to get Banner, but when they talked he was always multitasking by talking to her and working. It would be downright rude to pull him away from that. The only other person she could think to talk to was Pepper since she always seemed so composed and level-headed.
"So, what is it you need to talk about?"
Little jumped slightly. Though her hearing was excellent she chose to make it selective. She loved her powers, but having such sensitive hearing could be a horrid thing. There was nothing worse than being able to hear damn near everything happening on the few floors above and the few floors below. Hell, if she stood by an open window and looked down she could focus enough on a person on the street below enough to listen in on their conversation. Enhanced hearing made for an excellent spy, but for an annoyed normal person. She smiled at the woman. "Join me." After Pepper sat down she started off with an ice breaker. "First, I really do want to say that what you said earlier was alright. Yeah, not a great time of year to remind people they don't have families, I'll give you that. Anyway, I wanted your opinion on something."
Pepper only raised a brow as she waited.
Little took a deep breath. "Alright, so here's the deal. Would you feel guilty if you and Stark broke up and you met someone else?"
Another brow raise. "Is this about your 'sneaking' out?"
"Am I that obvious?"
Pepper just gave her a look.
Little smiled. "Alright, I'll start from the beginning. His name is Pete. I met him the first time I snuck out and we've seen each other a couple times since then." She chuckled quietly. "He spilled coffee on me when we met…Anyway, here's the deal. I like Pete, I really do. Right now I kinda feel like a high school girl who has a massive crush." She started playing with her nails. She wanted to go into some deeper detail, but that might not be a grand idea seeing as how Peter wasn't just some other guy. A fib will work. A little white lie. "You see, he's a mutant, too. He's just a little more into being part of the human populace than I am. It's great because he can actually understand what it's like." She sort of trailed off at that point.
"Have you slept with him?"
Blue eyes widened slightly as she shook her head. "No. I've kissed him, but that's it. I'll admit, he's not half bad about it either." She chuckled weakly before looking down at her hands. Ember jumped into her lap and demanded to be pet. "I just feel guilty and I don't know why. I go and see Pete and we hang out for a while then I come back here and bump into Clint in the halls and feel like crap. I have to make myself think about hating him. This morning I walked into the kitchen and he looked good in his pajamas with his hair all messed up, but I had to stop myself." She stuck her thumb nail between her teeth and chewed nervously. "It's not hard, but I have to remind myself that I'm angry at him or else I'd forget completely. Wouldn't you be mad?"
Pepper didn't respond for some time. Instead, she sat there and stared at Little as she mulled over what she had just been told. The overall reason behind this was obvious to her already, but she knew Little needed a push in the right direction. "Well, from what I've been told you and Clint went at it because he was jealous and accused you of spending far too much time with Dr. Bann—"
"He basically accused me of cheating on him!"
Pepper held up a hand to silence her. "However, if you think about it you're already over it. I can't tell you how many times I've been mad at Tony from the simplest of things to huge mistakes. I'll remind myself I'm supposed to be mad when he does the little things or gives me that stupid grin of his that wins me over every time. However, it doesn't take long for me to realize that I just can't stay mad at him for too long. Do you know why?"
Little stared at her with eyes full of curiosity as she chewed on her nail. "Why?"
A smirk came to the woman's face. "Because I love him."
Little jumped to her feet and shook her head. "No, no, no, no. Absolutely not. This is different!" Ember, who had just been dumped from her rather comfortable position on Little's lap, glared up at her mama.
"How so? Stark mad a complete and utter ass out of himself at his last big birthday party. Granted, he was dying, but still. He made everything into a huge mess that I had to clean up. Also, he bought me strawberries even though I'm allergic to them. Despite all of this, I don't hold it against him because that's also when we started being us. Yet, you can believe that you just might be even the tiniest bit in love with Clint."
Little crossed her arms and gave a rather childish huff. "But Pepp—"
Mom Mode activated. "Don't argue with me when you know I'm right."
With a heavy sigh she plopped back down onto the couch and thought about it all. She remembered back to the day she first started crushing on Barton. It was the mission he had tried to teach her to shoot his bow. When she got all flustered about it he had laughed at her quietly. That was the first time she'd ever heard him laugh in such a genuine way. She had liked it. From then on she kept finding more things about him she liked. He was built the way she liked men to be built. He had a sense of humor that made it difficult to focus on a mission if he felt the time was right to drop a joke. She loved his blue eyes and how they would scan everything around him at regular intervals. She had harbored her affection for him for some time, always afraid to actually approach him. That, and SHIELD wasn't that hip on coworkers dating. However, when she woke up to find him there sleeping with his head on her bed, it had given her hope. After that pieces started falling into place. She sighed. "Alright…You might be right."
Pepper grinned. "Than the solution to your problem is simple."
Little raised a brow.
The redhead smile. "Tell Pete you're sorry, but you still care for Clint in a way that would make things between you two impossible than get your ass back here and talk to Clint. Personally, I'm getting tired of watching you two either glare daggers at one another or ignore each other all together." She stood. "Now, you don't have to do this right now, but do it soon. It hasn't been long since everything happened, but that doesn't mean he's going to wait forever. Until you decide when to deal with this issue, call your sister and invite her to dinner tomorrow night."
Little watched Pepper walk away after that. She fell back on the couch and glared at the ceiling. Damn it…Pepper was right. She loved him. Pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind she went back over to the stairs where she jogged down to the floor below. Upon entering she found only Rogers remained after breakfast. He was cleaning up the kitchen. She just gave him a nod of the head as she grabbed the phone from the wall. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea what number to call. She only knew the main number for the mansion. "Jarvis, think you can find out the number to reach my sister?"
"Name?"
"Kiliegh Joann Little."
"Right away, Agent Little."
She leaned against the counter while she waited, hoping that the AI would be successful.
"Dialing now, Miss."
Little smiled and held the phone to her ear. "Jarvis, you are a wonder."
"Thank you."
The phone rang four times before there was an answer on the other line.
"Hello?"
Little sucked in a breath. "Hey, Kileigh, it's me."
"What do you want?"
Sure, they had made up, but that didn't mean there weren't still some hostilities.
"Alright, here's the deal. We're having a Christmas dinner here at the Tower tomorrow night and you can come if you want."
"Do I have to bring anything?"
Little shrugged. "I suppose you can if you want. Oh, just make sure there aren't strawberries in it. Pepper's allergic to them."
"Who the hell…? You know what, never mind. I'd go, but we're having dinner here, too, or have you forgotten we're family here at the mansion?"
Little growled through the phone. "Hey, I was just being nice, or trying to anyway. Think of it this way, you get to meet the Avengers!"
"I met them when you were in a coma, dumbass."
"You realize that one of them is Captain America, who's single. Clint is single, too. I might even be nice and not kill you for hitting on him."
Silence.
"Deal. What time?"
Little chuckled. "Hell if I know. Just show up around five or something. If dinner isn't ready then you can just hang out and explore or something. See you then."
"Bye."
Click!
Little put the phone back on the receiver and sighed heavily.
"Is she really going to hit on us?"
She looked up. Rogers wasn't looking at her, but he was the one to speak. "Oh, probably. But she's harmless…I think…"
Rogers watched her walk away, suddenly worried about to following evening.
At five o'clock sharp Joann showed up at the Tower and walked up to the front desk. The receptionist asked her who she was and what her business there would be. Joann wasn't entirely certain on how to answer that at first. She shuffled on her feet and cursed her sister's name before saying she had been invited to dinner by those who live in the Tower. The woman behind the desk just gave her a smile and pointed her over to the elevator after telling her press the button for the top floor. Joann dipped her head in thanks before scurrying over to the lift. She stepped inside and hit the top button. As the square room began to zoom upwards she looked down at the parcel in her hand. She had brought something along because it had been drilled into her skull from a young age that a guest should always be gracious and bring something for the host. So, apple pie it was! The lift stopped after what she over exaggerated as an hour. The doors slid open with a slight ding! Joann stepped out, perfectly nervous, and glanced around the room. Everyone was staring at her. She sighed in relief when she realized that it wasn't because she was underdressed seeing as how everyone else was dressed as casually as she. Looking around, she tried to remember names and faces. She knew Stark since he was famous. Pepper was the next person she recognized since she was often in the news with Stark. Umm…Dr. Banter? Oh! She knew Barton right off. That one has to be Captain America…what's his actual name? The man dressed in all black was incredibly familiar, but where did she know him from?She chewed on her lip before salvation came in the form of her doppelganger.
"Kileigh, glad you're here." Little sniffed. "You brought pie." She was in the penthouse that evening under the expressed consent of Fury.
Joann smiled weakly and held out the pie to her sister. "Yeah, Mom and Dad always said a good guest brings something for the host, right?"
Little smiled and took the container with another deep sniff. "Mmm…Apple pie." She noticed her sister's nervous stance and put an arm around her shoulders. "Did you grow the ingredients yourself? Mom always loved your homegrown pies."
Swallowing nervously seeing as how she was still under the watchful eyes of everyone else, she nodded. "Uh…Yes."
Little smiled. "Great! Now, let me introduce you to everyone. This is Tony Stark, and his girlfriend, Pepper Potts. I'm sure you've seen them plenty of times on the tube."
Joann smiled and shook hands. "Nice to meet you. I remember meeting Stark back on the helicarrier."
The billionaire grinned. "If I remember correctly you waggled your finger at us for staring. Well, if it's any consolation I can tell you two apart now!"
Little rolled her eyes and introduced her to the tall, blonde man. "Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America."
Rogers shook her hand and gave her a nod. "Evening, Miss. I don't believe we were introduced when you visited your sister."
Joann looked over him with a very appreciative eye. She gave a rather flirtatious smile. "No, I don't think we were."
From nearby Romanoff cleared her throat.
Little smirked in her direction. "And this is Natasha, a fellow agent of mine."
As the two women shook hands there was a moment where each person in the room could feel the electricity between them. It was enough to bring some smirks to a few faces.
Little brought her up to Banner. "This is Doctor Bruce Banner, one of my closer friends in the group."
Joann looked the man over with a brow raised. He was entirely unimpressive to the point his appearance alone could define the word.
"Now, you know Clint. Last, there's my boss, Nick Fury."
Fury's hands were behind his back in their usual fashion as he simply gave Joann a nod of the head. "Miss Little."
Recognition flashed through her eyes. "Now I remember you! You're the man who convinced my sister to leave the mansion and her family."
Little tugged her sister away. "Yes, Kileigh, but I'm happy with SHIELD so be happy for me, yeah?"
Commence the awkward silence.
Pepper smiled and stepped forward to take the pie from Little. "Well, this does smell good. How about we all get ready to eat. You arrived just in time, Kileigh. Do you go by that name?"
Joann gave a small smile of thanks. "No, actually. I prefer to go by Joann. What do you all call Leigh?"
"I call her Jo."
"The rest of us call her Little."
Stark beamed a smile. "I call her Fifi! And such a good girl she is."
Joann stared at the man for a moment or two before laughing and patting her sister on the head. "Have you taught her to fetch the paper, yet? I distinctly remember her doing it for dad to make him laugh."
Little went red in the face with both anger and embarrassment. That wasn't exactly her favorite childhood story even if it did end with her father happy and laughing. She hung back from the group a little as they made their way over to the long table set up near the bar. The table was set for nine with one side having an extra plate, but could probably seat up to ten or twelve if elbow room wasn't entirely necessary. Stark took the seat at the head of the table with Pepper directly to his right. To his left sat Fury. Down that side of the table sat Banner, then Romanoff. At the end of the table sat Rogers. To his left Joann plopped down, all too happy to get a chance to sit next to the tall, blond, and buff man. Barton sat beside Joann, leaving the only available seat being the one between him and Pepper. Little didn't let it show that she wasn't all that willing to be seated beside him. Every dished out their choice in food from the great array that they had prepared throughout the day. The table was laden with ham, fruit salads, macaroni salads, three different kinds of pie, two different kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and an array of fruits and vegetables.
Fury looked around the penthouse with a little nod. "Nice place yah got here, Stark."
The man smiled and held his arms out to the sides. "Isn't it, though? Had to fix it up a bit after the Hulk put some Loki-shaped holes in the floor. Not to mention the me-shaped hole in the window." He smiled at everyone at the table in the hopes of a hearty laugh, a light titter even! Yet…nothing. He frowned at them. "Kill joys, all of you!"
Now that got a laugh.
Joann leaned forward slightly and looked over Romanoff. "So, Natasha, what's your special talent? What makes you special?"
The redhead locked eyes with her. She was just as cocky, if not cockier, than her twin sister. The question was obviously asked out of malice. "I have a very specific skill set. If I felt like it—which I'm getting there—I could kill you and you'd never have a chance to fight back."
Little put a hand to her face. "Guys, it's Christmas, can we not do thi—"
A thunderclap boomed overhead.
Everyone looked out the window. The sky had been perfectly clear not moments before and the few stars that could be seen over New York had been shining beautifully that Christmas night. Now, however, clouds that were flashing were rolling across the skies. They held their breaths as the intensity of the storm began to grow. Streaks of lightning flashed across the sky in a dance of brilliance.
Fury stood first and made his way over to the windows. "I'll be damned."
Everyone followed…Everyone save Joann. She stayed in her seat, almost cowering. "Is it safe to be this high with a storm like that going on?"
Stark smirked. "The storm will pass much quicker than you expect."
The Avengers all shared a knowing glance.
Little held out a hand to her sister. "C'mon, you'll want to see this."
Hesitantly, Joann stood and followed her sister as they walked up to the window. She was the only one to squeal and give a little leap when something slammed down onto the balcony. She peeked around her sister's shoulder from where she was cowering. Her jaw hit the floor when she saw whatever hit the balcony straighten into one of the tallest people she had ever seen. She was utterly shocked when the clouds, lightning, and thunder instantly began to fade away back into nothingness, leaving the night beautiful once more.
Everyone backed away from the window as the figure stepped inside.
"Friends!"
Stark laughed long and loud as he approached the towering figure. "You make a better entrance than I do, I'll give you that!"
Joann watched in fear as the towering man laughed heartily and greeted the rest of the group. That was, until his eyes fell on her.
"Ah! The small agent!"
She screamed in terror as the man gave her a crushing hug.
"The last time I laid eye upon you, you were lying in a bed and broken! It is good to see you are well again!"
Little rushed up to the man. "Thor! Thor! Put her down! That is my sister!"
The incredibly tall man looked down at the tiny (to him) woman then to the woman who gazed upon him in unbridled terror. He did this many times before simply opening his arms and allowed Joann to fall to the floor in a bit of a heap. "My apologies, Miss. You look exactly like the woman I know as Small."
Joann gulped and looked at her sister. "Leigh?"
Her twin looked to Thor. "First, it's Little not Small, Thor. My name is Little."
"But little and small are the same thing. Would it be best to refer to you as Fauna instead?"
She sighed. "You know what, call me whatever tickles your fancy, in the mean time let me introduce my twin sister, Joann. Thor, this is Joann, Joann, this is Thor Odinson, God of Thunder, Son of Asgard, and those are the only titles I recall."
Joann held out a hand, fearing it would be crushed.
Thor took it gently and bowed his head over it. "Tis a pleasure to meet the sister of my ally. I am sorry for my conduct." He turned from her to Stark and Fury. "Now, there is a matter I mus—"
"Hey! What the hell is he doing here?"
Heads turned to see none other than the Trickster himself standing in the doorway, having been ignored during Thor's grand entrance.
Thor walked over and brought his step-brother in by the shoulder. "This is the matter. Father has stripped Loki of his powers and put him under my charge while at the same time I have been discharged back to Midgard to return to my post as Protector. I assure you that my brother is no greater than any mortal walking along the streets below."
Everyone eyed the two and noticed a resounding difference. Thor was adorned in his usual leggings, boots, armored breast-plate, and flowing red cape whereas Loki was dressed in what looked like trousers and a long-sleeved top. They had never had a reason not to trust the god before, why start now?
Joann stared at the pale man with the inky black hair. He stood well over a foot taller than she, but a touch shorter than his brother. Where his brother was large and muscular, Loki's was a much leaner physique. She found herself appraising him with a single brow arched and eyes scanning up and down. Oh, he was much better than the captain. Much, much better.
Rogers stepped forward and grasped at his role as leader of the team. "Alright. If he's under your control and you can promise that he won't cause trouble again, than there is little we can do to dissuade the decision of the…I forget what your father is called."
Thor nodded. "The Allfather. Thank you, Rogers, for understanding. Now, if I do believe what Heimdall has told me, today is a day of celebration here on Midgard?"
Little smiled. "Christmas. We were just having dinner. There might even be enough food to sate your god-like appetite."
Loki was growing bored of the simple niceties and stepped forward. "Shall we end this? I grow tired of your pleasantries."
Many eyes glared at the newly mortal god. However, instead of striking up a rather nasty argument they just migrated back towards the table. Rogers retrieved two extra chairs for the Asgardians. Unfortunately, Little had been wrong. Thor had mentioned that had his companion Volstagg been present their supposed feast would be little more than a snack to the large man. As it was, Thor was able to clear away half of the meal on his own, and that was with pacing himself and denying himself seconds…thirds…and fifths. Aside from eating, there was one thing that everybody at the table noticed except the subject. It was almost embarrassingly obvious to Little that her sister was continuously making eyes at Loki. Little almost wanted to make an open announcement apologizing for her sister's actions. Instead, she rode out the dinner trying her best not to snap at her twin and to continue to make polite conversation with the rest of the group. Only one person wasn't joining the conversation: Loki. He was too busy trying to seem as though he had no idea the mortal woman was staring at him as nonchalantly as possible for her.
But, of course, Joann wasn't the only one doing some nonchalant staring…
As the dinner drew to a close and the festivities turned towards the more Stark Approved activities, Little was able to pulled her sister aside. When they were well enough away from the rest of the group, she gave her a gentle whack on the arm. "Have you no shame? Do you know how obvious it is that you were staring at Loki the entire dinner? Loki!" Her voice was a harsh whisper. "Do you know who he is? Loki is the man who almost caused the end of the world as we know it. Had the Avengers not been there you wouldn't be able to make those cow-eyes at that man seeing as how you'd be enslaved along with the rest of us!"
Joann brushed her off with a wave. "You over exaggerate. If you guys weren't there than the X-Men would be and the problem would have been solved."
Little tried her hardest not to throttle her sister. "You are such a pain in the ass! Just do us all a favor and stop trying to make it obvious to him that you'd like to get in his pants."
With a toss of her long curls, Joann held up her hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, I'll stop gawking. But, I mean, c'mon! You have to admit he is a fine looking man."
Her twin sister tried her hardest not to openly gag. There was something about kicking a guy's ass in a fight that instantly made them less attractive. Shaking her head she walked away to strike up a conversation with Thor about anything that didn't include her sister.
The clock was very close to shifting their world from night into very early morning when Joann finally left. Of course, before she went she gave Loki a rather meaningful look. Once their only guest who didn't live at the Tower was gone, Stark showed the new arrivals to their rooms. Thor thanked Stark for his rather impressive attempt at making his room seem as much like home as possible. Loki, however, found his room to be less than adequate and began demanding certain changes. Things didn't get any better when Stark just laughed before walking over to the elevator and heading back up to the penthouse with Pepper.
In her bedroom, Little sat cross-legged on her bed in her pajamas with Ember in her lap. The kitten was rather miffed that she hadn't been invited to dinner, but excused it when she heard that her mama's sister would get very sick if they were even in the same room for too long. Before climbing beneath the sheets she noticed her closet door was open. Standing, she crossed the floor in only a few strides. A frown came to her face. Just before shutting the door she happened to see a package wrapped in packing paper inside a plastic bag on the floor of her closet. She shut the door and went back to her bed. She would just have to find someone else who would find the gift useful seeing as how there was far too small a chance that Barton would be the recipient.
Or…
Or perhaps Barton could be the recipient of the Christmas present she had bought a month earlier and that's when she would tell him what she and Pepper had discussed.
Little smiled.
There was hope.
A/N Oh my gosh. I'm sooo sorry for the long wait and for the super long chapter! This is now the longest chapter yet. If this keeps going I'll have chapters well over 7, 8, maybe even 9 thousand words O.O I honestly believe, though, that I won't let it come to that :) I promise no chapter will ever be longer than 7,000 words! Now, let's see if I can keep that promise!
Like it? Love it? Want to bitch at me for taking so long? REVIEW! Please :)
