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Elizabeth stood like a chastised child in front of Emma. Phillip had just finished explaining what she had done to his office, and although she thoroughly had enjoyed herself, she wasn't too keen on getting consequences. She only wished he would have gotten it through his thick skull that she had no intention of continuing her game with him – nah, he wasn't any fun anymore.
"And what would you recommend, Mr. Dale?" Emma asked, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose as a storm – which was probably Thor-induced – raged outside. The funeral had been postponed, and dealing with both grief and a wayward employee wasn't something she relished.
Phillip looked over at the silent Elizabeth. "I think she needs to have some more potent consequences." he said, "Perhaps returning to her post as the file-girl?"
That caught Lizzie's attention, "What?!" she exclaimed, "I worked hard for my position! How could you-"
"You abuse your job, Miss Donovan." Dale replied smoothly, "You are irresponsible. You waste your time on party tricks, and insist on being childish. Being an intern is not something which should be taken lightly, and if I were your boss you would no longer be in my employ."
"Good thing I'm not your intern then." Lizzie said smugly.
"Nevertheless, Miss Donovan, Mr. Dale is right." Emma said softly, "I will take care of this problem, Mr. Dale."
"What are you going to do?" Dale asked.
"Firstly, I think we need to establish if Elizabeth is no longer planning on playing pranks on you." Emma started, "Are you?" her gaze told Lizzie just what it was she wanted to hear: she was getting tired.
"No, Ma'am." Lizzie replied, "Mr. Dale doesn't need to worry about it."
"Good." Emma said quickly, "Does that satisfy you?" she asked Phillip.
For the next five minutes, the two women were subject to Phillip's ranting, and telling Emma how Lizzie should – for all intents and purposes – be fired. Emma and Lizzie exchanged a look of exasperation before they were interrupted by Captain Rogers, who quickly ushered the man out.
"Some people have absolutely no respect anymore." Steve said, "I can't believe he actually had the audacity to give you so much trouble today."
Emma sighed heavily, "He's irritated, Steve. I suppose its understandable." she said.
Steve shook his head, "In my day, no respectable man would come and give more grief to a woman who just lost her husband. It isn't right." he insisted as he sat next to Emma. "How are you doing?"
Lizzie watched the two of them for a moment, feeling somewhat awkward at standing in their private moment. "Well, I need to get going. I have a few more proposals to go over before I can go to my birthday party." she said.
Emma straightened up at that, "Oh, I almost forgot it was your birthday." she said, pulling out a box from under her bed. "From Andy and myself, considering I had to decline your invitation."
Lizzie nodded, "Hey, no worries, I understood." she said with a smile, "I'm just sorry I can't come to the funeral, but at least I can wear black for you." she motioned to her all-black outfit.
Her boss smiled, "Thanks, Lizzie. For watching Andrew these last few days, and for just being helpful I suppose. I just... when I heard that... Garrett... I..." she trailed off, her eyes once more beginning to fill with tears as the Captain put his arm around the woman in comfort.
"Don't mention it." Lizzie replied, looking over at the Captain. "I need to get going, I have... some stuff to get done."
He nodded in reply and she turned on her heel to get out of the room. Once out, she had to pause.
She wished she could have comforted Emma a bit, knowing that the woman needed all the friendly comfort she could get. But Elizabeth was never good at comforting people, her bedside manner nigh on non-existent. Bella had often teased her on it, as she had somehow acquired the nickname 'Ice Queen' after her grandfather's death – something which she was somewhat embarrassed about.
She headed for the elevator, suddenly finding herself face to face with none other than Johnny Storm. "Can I help you, Fireboy?" she asked in irritation.
He smirked, "I realized you were joking in there, when you said that thing about breaking my bones - and I had to come and say that you are pretty convincing." he said, getting a little closer to her.
"Believe me, Storm, I couldn't have been more serious when I told you what I did." she said through gritted teeth. "But I'm afraid I don't have the time to chat right now, as unlike some people I know, I actually have a job."
"Are you saying I don't work, Miss Donovan?" Johnny crooned, his fingers beginning to play with the edge of the scarf that Lizzie wore, his hand creeping closer and closer to her exposed neck.
Unnoticeable to him, she gulped hard. She was fighting her instincts to hit him... or worse. She could hear her heart in her ears, her sight beginning to go fuzzy. "No, no, no..." she muttered softly.
"What? I'm not going to bite or anything." Johnny said with a chuckle, "I just wanted to know if you were free on Friday, but if its a 'no,no,no' then I suppose Saturday could work." the self-centered man said with an arrogant smirk arranged on his features.
Lizzie shook her head, trying to free her thoughts as suddenly Johnny stopped talking. She looked up as he started coughing rather profusely, leaning against the wall as he tried to catch his breath. It was this sound which shook Lizzie out of her semi-trance. "Are you okay, Johnny?" she asked.
"Yeah-" he coughed, "I just... that was weird, my throat just closed up. I can't explain it." he choked out as his breathing regulated. "Sorry, that's never happened to me before."
"Well, there's a first time for everything." Lizzie said softly, "I—I need to go."
He grabbed her wrist, "Oh, no you don't. You don't get to just slip away, you haven't even given me an answer." he said, getting a little too close for comfort.
"Let go." she hissed, trying to yank her hand out of his grasp.
"No, you give me an answer first." Johnny replied.
Lizzie's vision began to blur again when a new voice interrupted.
"I believe she told you to let her go."
Johnny turned around, surprised to see Loki standing there with narrowed green eyes. His lips were drawn into a thin line, his posture screaming danger. Lizzie met his eyes, her vision coming back into focus. She let out a sigh, whether it was of relief or stress Loki didn't know.
"Well, well, look who it is. The guy who tried to take over the city, I'm surprised they let you out of prison so fast. Didn't you leave in a muzzle?" Johnny commented, turning to Lizzie, "I thought you said you weren't with anyone." She shook her head, unable to form any words. Loki had stood up for her. Loki. Stood up. For her – the thought was still processing.
"I can hardly see how that is of any relevance to you, mortal." Loki said calmly, "She said she wants you to let her go."
Johnny chuckled, "Not until I get an answer." he replied, "Besides, this is... of no relevance to you." he mocked Loki's tone.
"No relevance?" Loki repeated, "As far as I can tell, I know Elizabeth more than you do. That, and I don't make it a habit to touch her when she doesn't want me to." he chuckled, "Though, she tends to do that all on her own."
Johnny's brows furrowed. "She told me that she wasn't with anyone." he said.
Loki smirked, "Whatever gave you the inclination to believe that I care for her in any capacity?" he asked sardonically, "I just don't particularly like you."
"Like that matters." Johnny replied, "From what I hear you're just a reject, an adoptee who somehow wound up so much different than his brother."
"Oh no." Lizzie moaned, closing her eyes as Loki just laughed. A cold shiver ran down her spine.
"How pitiful that you are what Midgard has to offer to protect it." Loki spat, "Against the Mad Titan, your pride will be your downfall. That, and your blatant disrespect for those who are so obviously above you." inwardly, Loki marveled at how much this mortal resembled the Patriot. It was as if they were the same man, except one was a little more slight, and much more disrespecting.
"Well, you haven't seen me in action." Johnny replied proudly, his attention fully diverted from his object of attraction. Lizzie didn't really know what to do, and just stood in her spot for a moment, her mind still wrapping around the entire situation. "I've taken on guys that are bigger than you."
"Oh?" Loki challenged, "Well let's hope you're better on a battlefield than in person."
Johnny took a moment to comprehend what he was just told, when he did, his blue eyes narrowed. "Maybe I ought to just show you here and now what I'm capable of, maybe I can send you back where you belong."
"Johnny..." Lizzie tried to stop the man, but it was too late. She let out a scream as he suddenly burst into flames, not two feet in front of her. She backed away as she tried to extinguish the flames which suddenly licked her sleeves. She had them out in a moment, her brown eyes glazing in anger as she then watched the irresponsible pyromaniac mutant begin to stalk toward the impassive god. "Hothead." she muttered under her breath.
Johnny took a swing, which Loki simply ducked and moved out of the way. He may be a Jotun, but he wasn't particularly keen on getting burned. However, Johnny did not anticipate the sudden icicle which created itself in Loki's hand, a freezing dagger which was suddenly thrown at him. It didn't melt quickly enough as it embedded itself into Johnny's side. He yelled in pain, heating up his body a little more to melt the damn thing.
Loki chuckled quietly to himself as he looked over at Elizabeth, his ire kindling as he noticed her peeling back her sleeve to reveal her reddened arm. The quick-tempered mortal had been so irresponsible, that he had forgotten that she was a mere human. She could not stand the radiating heat which the mutant gave off. He snarled, hating the fact that he had no choice but to use his loathed Jotun side. Were he still in control of his magic, the mortal would have simply been incapacitated, but that had been taken away from him, he had no choice. He created another ice-dagger, throwing it at the irritating man. This truly was a waste of time.
Unknowing to the trio, Lizzie's scream had brought the attention of the Avengers to the hallway, and they all came into the room. Tony moved to get Lizzie out of the way, passing her to Bruce and Reed to inspect her arm. Thor prepared to move forward, only to be held back by Ben Grimm with a shake of the head. "Better not, unless you wanna get burned." Ben said.
"Johnny! What the hell are you doing?!" Reed Richards yelled to his brother-in-law, Lizzie's arm being inspected by Bruce.
"Just teaching Mr. All-Powerful what it is that earth has to offer." Johnny retorted.
"I remain unimpressed." Loki retorted, "Is this the best you can do?"
Johnny growled, extending his hand out to shoot a stream of fire – when his coughing fit returned. He gasped, losing all conscious thought as he found it difficult to breathe. Suddenly his flaming body returned to normal... stark naked. Loki looked to Elizabeth, noticing her suddenly slump to the ground, resting her head on the wall behind her.
"GOD ALMIGHTY!" a shout erupted from Darcy. "Two naked men in an hour? This never happens on my birthday!"
Lizzie glared at the brunette, her cheeks flaming red. "How is it, Dr. Banner?" she asked, her heart beating even faster.
"Eh," Bruce tutted, "Its not too bad. He wasn't close enough to really hurt you badly, its just irritated." he gingerly touched it, earning a slight cry from Lizzie. "Its still burning her," he said to Reed.
"She needs some ice, or ice water, or-" Reed was cut off as Loki appeared next to him... his arm in his Jotun form.
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph he's blue!" Darcy exclaimed.
"It's his Jotun form." Thor said as Loki brought his hand to Lizzie's irritated skin.
"That's it, to hang with this crowd, I need meds." Darcy muttered, walking out of the room, "Or maybe I can get some of Stark's whiskey – it should be strong enough..."
Lizzie looked up at Loki, surprise painted on her features. Who was this man? One moment he was hating her guts, arguing about everything; and then he had stood up for her, and now was helping her when Johnny had burned her. The cooling sensation from his skin was somewhat relieving before the burning of a different kind began... frostbite. His Jotun form was too cold for her human body to take, and within seconds the relief was becoming worse, the help beginning to work adversely.
Loki quickly backed off right as she gave a cry of pain, his green eyes widened in confusion. He couldn't believe what he had just done, both in protecting her from the disrespect of Johnny Storm, and in helping her in her injury. He stood abruptly, her eyes following him in shock. He looked down at her, noticing her face was probably reflecting his own. Her brown eyes were transfixed on his green, her mouth in a silent 'o' of surprise as she cradled her injured arm.
The room was silent as they watched the strange interaction. Of everything, they did not expect this kind of behavior from either Loki or Lizzie, yet what they were seeing could not be denied. Loki had helped Lizzie. That, in and of itself, made Tony look down at his discarded whiskey glass... he had only drunk a third of it, it couldn't have been that potent.
"What the hell is with all the silence?" Johnny asked from the side, a blanket which had been produced for him by Steve wrapped around his waist.
The spell was broken, and Lizzie was once more a mere mortal in Loki's eyes. He felt disgust at himself, and suddenly turned on his heel, leaving Lizzie to the care of the two doctors. Yet, the same thought ran through both his and Lizzie's heads. Bewilderment. She at the entire situation; and he at his strange behavior.
It was in that moment he decided he was going to stay away from Elizabeth Donovan. No matter what. She was bad business for him.
Tony looked over at Bruce, "Did that just happen?" he asked. Bruce nodded, assisting Reed in getting Lizzie up and into the other room just to make sure she was completely alright. "Well I'll be damned. Diva has a soft spot."
"Did you doubt he did?" Thor asked.
The inventor snickered, "Well, I doubted that he had a heart which beat like any normal human being. I thought maybe it was made of ice..." he laughed to himself, "Pun fully intended."
"Though..." Natasha began, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at the semi-naked Johnny. "I would like to know just how this whole thing started." Clint stood next to her with a fierce look in his eyes.
"So would I." Steve agreed, his own arms crossed as he narrowed his eyes at his look-alike.
"No doubt it wasn't something pleasant which made Loki suddenly protect her." Thor mused aloud, "Though I am certainly curious what sort of thing may have brought on my brother's rather rare protective side."
Johnny looked between the men of the Avengers, wondering if what Lizzie had originally said was true...
Thor certainly looked like he might just tear him from limb to limb – and rightfully so. The girl was somewhat odd, but she had won a place in the Thunderer's heart, and since she now had somehow revealed the softer side of his brother, she was even more endeared to him. Though Clint and Natasha truly scared him, the archer's eyes were narrowed dangerously, and Johnny knew that the only thing which may save him was his power of flame – other than that, he knew that either one of these two could kill him quite easily.
"Out with it Powerpuff, I wanna know what made Reindeer Games throw ice shards at you." Tony snapped, his eyes betraying any anger which he felt as his posture just looked nonchalant. "And it better not be what I think it is, cause if it is, then I will warn you that my brain was born with a short circuit. I feel no guilt."
The semi-naked man gulped as he looked around the room. As the Avengers, Sue, and Ben were looking at him expectantly; all he could do was wonder where the nearest exit was.
Meanwhile, Loki was destroying his quarters in a fit of rage. Not only had he protected the Avengers pitiful pet, and helped her when she was burned, but he had used the very thing which made him an outcast in Asgard. He had used his Jotun side to fight the man of fire. He was disgusted with himself. He helped no one, and here he had allowed himself to willingly assist Elizabeth.
He mentally went over what had happened in his mind, remembering Jarvis telling him that he was once more allowed out of his room and that the guest had left. He had walked out, heading for the common room when he saw Elizabeth get cornered by the newcomer. He knew immediately who the man was, based on the fact that he looked remarkably like the Captain. That being said, he remembered all of Stark's comments about the man, mostly of how he was the exact opposite of the Captain. He proved himself to be in accordance to the rumors as he began trying to charm the woman, failing miserably. Loki laughed to himself as he watched, and using his long-acquired skill of keeping silent, he went toward them.
He almost enjoyed the show of Elizabeth geting irritated at the man who cornered her, listening as she basically just told the insistent man to leave her alone. He didn't, naturally, and it was when he began to get too close that Loki took greater interest.
Her eyes got glassy, and suddenly the man's breathing labored. A curious thing, as Loki suddenly knew it came from her. He watched her come to her senses, asking if 'Johnny' was okay. It had amused him to watch the mortal splutter, it reminded him of Fandral – irritating man he was – as both never understood that some women wished to be left alone. It wasn't until he touched her that Loki suddenly intervened.
But why? That was the one thing which had puzzled him since the start, the feeling of anger which welled within him as he watched the man seize her hand and pull her around to face him confusing him more than anything. Yet, his mouth seemed not his own as he spoke, bringing the man's attention away from Elizabeth and onto himself. Loki couldn't help but bait him, watching as his pride overcame his good judgment.
Then the irresponsible idiot burst into flames, accidentally burning Elizabeth. That seemed to have only made him more angry than before – and all without reason. After all, the irritating twit had slapped him... twice! Why in the nine realms would he be angry for something which happened to her? She was inconsequential, and had he succeeded in becoming King of Midgard, she probably would have died in the invasion. If he were Thor – which he thanked the fates he was not – he would understand it. His brother was constantly babbling on about how he saved some maiden from certain compromise.
But he was Loki. To be angry that one mortal harmed another was not his concern. What's more, that the mortal who was harmed had deserved it. Yet, he could not believe his own thoughts, in all truth. To compensate, he wrote off his behavior as wishing to test the metal of the mortal who had just joined the Avengers – and was severely disappointed. The boy had a temper, which was easily stoked, and tended to think irrationally, not caring who he hurt in the process. It was not an admirable trait, and Loki had to admit that the boy's pride disgusted him as much as Fandral's did. It wasn't until the boy mentioned his heritage that he was forced to remain impassive... he doubted the All-Father would be particularly pleased to hear from Heimdall that he had killed the git because of his pride. Then he was sure he'd never leave the Tower of Solitude for the rest of his immortal life.
Then, to top it all off, he went and helped the useless mortal twit when she got burned. He willingly used his Jotun form to help her – that puzzled him to no end. Yet, her eyes... they had been so shocked, and yet curious. And he had to admit, they were a rather nice shade of brown...
He growled to himself, quickly throwing the desk into the wall before yanking a book off the bookshelf and sitting down. The girl would soon be out of his mind, and out of his life. Everything that she was would be inconsequential to him as it wouldn't matter. When Thanos came, there was no doubt in his mind, that she would be one of the first to die, due to the fact that she was so close to the Avengers.
And when she did, then perhaps she would no longer plague him – well, at least he would be dead and never have to concern himself with her again... unless of course, Hel decided to put them in adjacent chambers and she haunted him for the rest of his undying life. With this rather peaceful thought in mind, he settled down with a book – then groaned as he read yet another myth about himself.
"Why is there a constant theme of turning me into a girl? It only happened bloody once!"
After quite a bit of coaxing, and overall stubbornness, Lizzie was finally capable to convince the two doctors that her arm would be fine. She needed to finish her work, and then do a little shopping before she could go home. Tony told her that she could take the rest of the day off, for which she was grateful; yet, she wasn't quite sure how she was going to explain what happened to her arm to her seanmhathair.
"You could always tell her that you spilled coffee on yourself." Tony suggested.
Lizzie raised an eyebrow, "A second degree burn... through my jacket?" she challenged.
"Do you have a better idea?" he asked, but she only shook her head and sighed.
"I'll just... tell her the truth." Lizzie said, "And hope that she does not demand that either I quite, or that she is allowed up here to give Fireboy a piece of her mind."
Tony chuckled, reaching for his bottle of whiskey, only to find it gone. "Jarvis, where's the whiskey?"
"Miss Lewis took it sir," Jarvis answered, "She was muttering something about that if she was, and I quote: 'Going to see smurfs, she wanted to be drunk.' and that she 'Should have taken a psychology course to be able to deal with this kind of-' excuse me sir, but it was a little more explicit after that, but her last statement was that she didn't get paid enough to endure this... situation."
Lizzie chuckled behind her hand as Tony smirked, "Well, at least she has a good excuse."
"Quiet, Puppy." Tony retorted, opening another bottle. "I'm just twenty years ahead of her. Jarvis, see if we have an opening for a political science major."
"Yes sir." the AI replied.
Lizzie stood up a few minutes later, "One thing before I go."
"Making demands of your boss, Miss Donovan?" Tony asked, she shook her head.
"What happened to Fireboy?"
Tony smiled, "Oh, Reed took him back to the Baxter Building. Apparently they have a little more... debriefing to do." He took a sip of his drink, "You should know that Point Break was about to smash the little guy over you. Apparently – Lady Elizabeth –" he lowered his voice to imitate Thor "'You are a friend of Asgard, and as its prince, he is under obligation to protect you.' or something like that."
"That doesn't even make sense. I haven't exactly had a deep conversation with the guy." Lizzie replied, 'Except once'. She added in her head, but that time did not count.
"Well, that's the Big Guy." Tony replied, looking at the clock. "Don't you have to be somewhere?"
Lizzie smirked, "Anxious to get rid of me, Stark?" she asked playfully.
Tony smiled, "No, but if you stay you're making dinner."
He made a good point, "Leaving now." Lizzie replied, heading for the door. "See you... sometime in the future."
"Be safe, Puppy." Tony replied, "We do not want the hammer of Thor to come down on anyone who dares to... harm you."
After saying goodbye to Emma, Lizzie went to the elevator. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't almost wishing to see Loki one last time, if for no other reason than to ask him about his behavior – but she didn't.
All the way down to the parking garage, and while she shopped for the last minute things for the two-day birthday party, her mind was restless. In a word, Elizabeth was flabbergasted. Loki had seemed, ever since she met him, to be a selfish, self-pleasing, proud, haughty, and self-serving individual. No one mattered to him but himself, and all others were expendable. Sure, Thor had said he was different before, but that hardly mattered now. This was how he was at present, and Lizzie was having a hard time thinking any differently of him.
Yet, his behavior that afternoon gave cause for questioning. Why would he step in when it wasn't his concern, and Johnny would probably just get the message eventually and leave her alone? What made him goad the Human Torch to a point of attack? Better yet, why did he so willingly help her? Surely he saw her as an irritant, and had said as much before; you don't help an ant, and more so one which insists on biting you every time it sees you. So... why?
She remembered how his cool hand had felt on her then-burning arm, and wondered if his eyes were always so green. She saw something which she never had in the past, some kind of fascination, and loneliness. Was it possible that Loki was fascinated with her? Was it possible that he felt lonely? Yet, the moment Johnny Storm – who she reminded herself to plan a prank on the egotistical jackass later in the week – said something, it seemed as if Loki's self-importance came back into focus; and she was nothing more than an ant under his boot again.
She nearly laughed aloud as she checked out of the grocery store. It seemed that was the question of the day: why. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that she had almost forgotten to pay the cashier, and had to be reminded. That was really irritating.
Once she left the building, she wondered if Thor was upset. Reason? It was raining cats and dogs, and the weather people were clueless of where the front had come from. She burst out laughing when she heard the meteorologist say "Really, its almost like Thor is in town. Maybe he is?"
When she got home, all thoughts of Loki flew out the metaphoric window. It was hers and Bella's birthday, and she'd be damned if she spent it thinking about the god of mischief instead of drinking to her hearts content – after all, you're only twenty-one once.
Heimdall looked toward Midgard, his golden eyes watching the young Elizabeth. She greeted her family, speaking in her native tongue as she met her distant cousins. He looked at her carefully, knowing from Queen Frigga that this girl would eventually have a large part to play in Loki's life. What part, she would not reveal, but he knew that she had already managed to make a small dent in the stone encasing around the Prince's heart.
"Heimdall?" the Queen's voice came from behind.
"Your Majesty." Heimdall greeted Frigga. "What brings you here?"
She looked where the Gatekeeper's eyes were fixed. "How are they?"
"Loki is currently brooding, Milady; and the girl is celebrating her twenty-first spring." Heimdall replied.
Frigga smiled, "That is nothing new for Loki." she said, "But what has made him sour this time?"
Heimdall chuckled, "The girl." he answered. "He believes she has made him weak in some manner, that he is becoming soft like Thor."
"Loki has always tended to think it weakness to open himself to others." Frigga replied, "What happened?" Heimdall relayed all he had seen between the two that day, including Loki's tantrum afterwars. "Then all is well." Frigga finally said, "I believe, Heimdall, our prince may yet return."
Heimdall smiled at the Queen as she walked away, then returned his gaze to the sullen Prince.
well? What do you guys think of it? Leave a review, and let me know... the last lack made me wonder if there was something wrong with the chapter.