An Ironman suit shot across the sky, jet flame leaving a short trail behind it. It held out a hand and scanned the area below. After a moment, it rose back into the air and changed course.
There were about fifteen of them all doing the same thing this morning. Fury had left the previous evening and asked them to stay put until he sent word. Since Loki had informed them of the possibility of the portal changing its location, Tony had still decided to send out his machines to at least see if they could pinpoint how often the Jotuns were entering the realm. And it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of warning if suddenly the frost giants were racing towards an inhabitated city.
However, these suits had orders to relay their position every five minutes, just so they didn't have a repeat of their first encounter with a frost giant.
Meanwhile, as the machines did most of the hard work, Hawkeye's two boys were wrestling with toy swords in the house. Captain America stood in the kitchen, dressed in a brown jacket and jeans. After Thor had convinced Loki to stay, words had not passed between the Captain and the God of Michief. Loki had kept to himself more than before. However, he never went out of the sight of Thor or the Asgard soldiers. Currently, he was sitting in the living room reading a book he seemed to have gotten from nowhere. The two boys ran back and forth in the living room, shouting occasionally. It didn't seem to disturb Loki in the slightest.
Black Widow walked down the steps, a dark blue shirt creasing her figure. She had her arms folded as she sauntered over to Captain America.
"You really know how to tone down to casual." she commented.
"It keeps us focused on the job." Captain America said simply.
"Oh, it definitely keeps you focused on the job." Black Widow said with a small trill in her throat. Captain America looked at the ground and shook his head slightly.
Thor and Loki had returned from speaking to Heimdall not many minutes before. Hawkeye still meant to have words with them about the amount of times they were using the Bifrost on his grass, but he never seemed to get around to it.
"You'd think those Asgard people would get tired standing out there all day." Black Widow said, nodding towards the windows while putting a grape into her mouth.
"Well, I hope they're taking turns." Captain America said.
Banner walked into the kitchen, looking around the house "Does anyone else find this house to be a lot bigger on the outside?"
"Uh oh, I don't think we called for a code greeb." Black Widow said, rolling on her elbows to get off the table and looking at him.
"No, I just feel like this house gets a little tighter with this many people in it." Banner said, waving an arm to accentuate his words. He looked behind him at Loki for a moment. The two boys ran through the house with a few yells of triumph, waving their swords wildly. "By the way, where does Thor keep disappearing too? I saw him outside just a second ago, but now he's gone again."
Then Thor walked into view outside the window and into the house.
"God, those guys are good." Banner said.
"They are gods." Black Widow agreed sarcastically.
Loki flipped the page of his book, studying the next page with the same amount of thoughtfulness. Thor stood not ten feet away, arms folded as he watched the older and younger brother play. Loki seemed to be too ingrained in his book to notice.
Then they both glanced out the window momentarily as one of the Ironman suits flew towards them. It spun once in the air before landing hard with a clank. Both of Hawkeye's boys stopped fighting to look outside. The suit stood up and started walking over to the house. The helmet retracted and Tony held out his arms to the kids as he got up the steps.
"It's okay, it's me, not an alien." he said.
"What happened?" Thor asked as he approached.
"Umm...nothing." Tony replied sounding much to relaxed for the situation.
"Nothing at all. Nothing new. Though, I'm not the only one up there." He walked over to the others and looked at Captain America "Way to dress up. I like it."
"Is what I'm wearing seriously our biggest concern?" Captain America asked, holding his arms in exasperation.
"We're trying to bring you into our age." Black Widow said. Captain America gave her a look.
Plastic swords clashed together as the two boys started to get more intense. The four of them by the kitchen seemed to be able to block them out with the exception of a few glances.
The younger boy chased the other outside, sword raised above his head. Thor moved back for them to pass more easily. It was only moments that there was a complained yell from outside and a few more before the older brother, Cooper, came on with both swords in his hands.
"You can't play with them." he was telling his younger brother "You're not as good as me so you can't fight."
"I can to fight. That's my sword." Nathaniel said, angrily.
"No it's not." Cooper told him "Dad got me both these swords for my birthday. That's why I'm his favorite because I get to be like him when I'm older. You're just my stupid little brother and you're always copying me. I don't like it when you play with my toys."
"You're not Dad's favorite, I am." Nathaniel argued, stomping one foot. Loki looked up from his book at the conflict.
"Dad hugged me first when he got home." Cooper bragged. He turned around with the swords.
"That's not fair." Nathaniel protested, stomping after his brother and grabbing the end of his sword. Cooper pulled it away.
"Go away, you're too little to play with. You always break everything. I'm telling Dad on you." he said, running up the stairs. Nathaniel turned around and ran back outside the house.
Thor looked after him for a second and then glanced down at Loki for a small moment. Loki was gazing after the older son, expression unreadable. After a moment, his eyes blinked back down to his book.
Tony returned his eyes to Captain America "Do you want to wear one of my suits?"
Once afternoon came, many of the people in the house had given up on waiting for Fury to give them the word.
Tony had offered to fly back to town and pick up a few fast food orders for them all, partly as a joke, and partly because he was serious. Banner had given his low opinion of restaurant food and Captain America told him how irresponsible that would be.
Now that his idea had been thoroughly bashed upon, Tony was checking on his robots that were prowling the area. He had a big see-through board he kept tapping on.
"Jarvis, let's get them spinning out a little farther from the house." he said.
"Yes, sir." The robotic voice replied.
Laura walked down the stairs, her hair bouncing on her shoulders.
"Oh, class, say 'hi, Laura.'" Tony said loudly to the others. She smiled slightly as he waved at her. She walked past the window and then paused as she spotted something. She stared silently for several seconds, mouth open a bit.
Loki was outside with her youngest son. He appeared to be showing him a movement with a blade. Nathaniel held a sword she had never seen before, although from the way he was holding it and waving it around, it couldn't have been heavier than foam. It had a gold hilt and a shiny silver blade.
Laura glanced behind her at the others for a second, almost as if worried, but her eyes softened back down when she saw the innocence of it. She'd come down to hopefully resolve the spat between her sons.
Thor looked over and saw her staring outside. He took a few steps over, wondering if Loki had left the porch. The guards were still outside. As he got closer, he realized what she was watching. Thor and Laura looked at each other for a brief second. He was unsmiling, but clearly thoughtful as he looked out upon the scene.
Hawkeye's younger son swished the light sword through the air. It was longer than his brother's swords and had a much better grip on the handle.
"My brother's always telling me that I'm not good enough at fighting to fight him." he said.
"Well, now you have your own sword." Loki replied, his voice mild.
"And it's way better than his!" Nathaniel boasted.
"Your sword is much better. You can fight with me instead." Loki told him.
Nathaniel looked downcast all the sudden, a foot scuffing the ground as he waved his sword. "He's always saying that he's Dad's favorite because he's older and can do more things."
"You're just as good as your brother." Loki said gently "Imagine how surprised he'll be when you show him new fighting techniques."
The boy glanced at him as if not sure what the word meant, but he nodded in excitement.
"Now, hold your weapon here." Loki said, demonstrating to keep it at waist level, blade pointed outward.
Hawkeye watched through the window, head tilted to see past the columns on the porch. His eyes lowered to look at the sill. Then he turned around, walking over to the others. Although he still appeared very reserved talking to the little boy, Loki had opened up to him more than anybody else. Nathaniel had cheered up very quickly, seeming to forget about the spat with his brother.
"Any word from Fury?" Hawkeye asked. The group of talented people in the kitchen seemed to have lost their vivaciousness now that they had decided it would be best to wait for Director Fury to return.
Laura walked down the stairs, one hand sliding on the rail.
"Nothing yet." Captain America said, looking up from where he was absentmindedly flipping a cup over and over.
Thor had one hand on his mouth. He'd been quieter since he'd noticed Loki out there with Nathaniel, but as Laura passed him, he spoke.
"Do your sons share a close bond?" he asked.
Laura turned to face him, almost as if surprised by the question.
"Yes, they like to play with each other more than anything when it comes down to it." she said "But." she leaned forward as if she was going to share a funny secret "Whenever their father comes home, they tend to fight more. They're in this rut of trying to decide who he likes best. Of the two of them, Nathaniel is generally the kinder one about it, but they could go at it for hours."
Thor waited a moment, thinking.
"Loki and I used to do the same thing." he said. Then he smiled slightly and tossed his hammer "I always won."
Laura chuckled and leaned even closer "Older sibling syndrome." with that she continued one into the kitchen.
Thor's smile faded as he looked back out at Loki and Nathaniel.
"Look." Tony caught into his thoughts "If we're going to literally be Fury's Avengers, then I suggest we at least need to all be gone when he gets here." He waved a hand dismissively "Make him think we got bored."
"You really think Fury's that dumb?" Black Widow asked, peering up at him from the side.
"No." Tony said "I know he is. But even if he doesn't fall for it, that would be a great conversation starter."
Cooper and Lila came loudly down the stairs. Cooper no longer carried his swords, but the front door was open so he could see right outside.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed. He pushed past Lila, who shot a scowl after him. Thor took a few steps toward the front door.
The boy ran outside, eyes wide as he approached them.
"That sword is sooo cool." he said, stopping a few feet away. When he went to walk toward his younger brother, however, Loki stepped in front of him.
"I believe you told your brother he was too young to play with. He has his sword and you have yours." he said.
Nathaniel peered from behind Loki at his older brother. Cooper was looking up at the God of Michief with a stunned expression.
"Perhaps you should apologize. And see if he would be willing to play with you now." Loki said.
Cooper glanced at his feet for a few seconds without saying anything "I'm sorry Nathaniel. I was just mad. I didn't mean it. I really like to play with you."
Loki stared at him stoically and then glanced down at the younger son.
"It's okay." Nathaniel replied, sounding excited.
"Can I fight with you guys?"
Loki watched him for a second before holding out his hands together. He pulled them apart vertically, an identical sword appearing out of thin air.
Both of the boys stared at him in amazement, mouths open. Loki took the blade and held the hilt out to the older brother. Cooper took it with awe-struck eyes.
"How did you do that?"
"That's my secret." Loki replied with a hint of a smile.
Laura watched out the window with a smile now that both of her boys were playing together. Lila was in the kitchen coloring while talking to Black Widow. Captain America kept leaning back to check outside, looking at Loki occasionally. The God was reading from his book again, not very far away from the children. He let it rest in his hands as he looked down. The book was very worn as if it had been read numerous times. Sometimes Loki pulled out a folded piece of parchment tucked inside and opened it.
"What does he keep reading?" Captain America asked. Thor glanced at him.
"I don't know, I got a peek at it. I couldn't read it." Hawkeye said.
"Loki always had a love for reading." Thor said.
"I need to introduce him to technology." Tony said, typing something on his transparent board.
"I think already he's far more advanced than technology." Banner replied, looking over his glasses.
Also, I have no idea how old Cooper or Lila are. So I made them how old I wanted them to be.
Please review! The more reviews I have, the faster I want to update! Your reviews are very appreciated!