Okay, I just want to say that there's going to be cameos of characters from Young Avengers and X-Man in some chapters so look forward to it.

What happens when Eureka hits her head really had when she fell into the fountain? Sorry, I just can't think of anything better to make her stay with the Avengers longer (I'm so clueless!)... :P

But admit it; this way, she gets to be seen as an awesome adventure girl. Want to know what's going to happen? Then read!

Enjoy!

Chapter 3 – Living in luxury

A raven-haired man sat on an antique chair, overlooking the deserted scenery from the oak window. The breeze swept his locks, as well as the white, translucent curtains, making his angled face seem softer. She approached the man slowly, worry drowning her every second.

"Loki... what's wrong?"

The man turned to look at her. His green eyes didn't match his smile – they were too sad to match the curved lips. Though he tried to look normal, she knew that something was wrong, that something was happening.

"Loki, are you okay? You don't look good."

The man's mouth moved as if he was talking, but all she could hear was the cool breeze and her voice.

"What? I can't hear you! What are you saying?"

But before she could reach out to grab the man's hand, a force pulled her back into the shadows. From the distance, she could see the man still sitting there, smiling sadly as she was pulled further away. Slowly and painfully, the man became less visible and became nothing more of a speck. Everything was dark; everything was cold.

"Euri! Maroon 5 is performing in the lobby right now!"

Eureka's eyes snapped open and she instantly sat up. "Where?" A few moments later, a bell rang in her head. "Oh, they're not actually here, are they?"

She was sitting under a soft white blanket, on a bed, in a room of what seemed to be hospital room. A group of flashy men – and a woman in suit – stood around the bed, eyeing her every movement. She suddenly remembered where she had been, the conversation in the meeting room, and then the bucket... It was embarrassing.

"Guys, I know what happened was really stupid but please don't stare," she said, touching the bump on her head.

Just the slightest brush made her flinch in pain – she really hit her head hard this time. There were times when people had tried to knock her unconscious but she had survived because she had casted a protection spell all over her the moment she sensed something was coming. This time, she was distracted with the conversation that she didn't see the bucket of water in her way, and was too shocked to cast her spell before the impact.

Eureka turned to Steve, who looked uncomfortable, probably guilty about the whole fountain thing. "Did you carry me here?"

Steve caught her eyes, "Ah, yes."

"Thanks."

"No, it's my fault," Steve sighed apologetically, "I distracted you from what's in front of you and things got messy..."

"No, no. It's my fault, too," Eureka smiled reassuringly.

"Yeah, it's great you're okay," Tony interrupted, "But we still don't know if what's in your head is okay."

"Euri," Armada tugged at her sleeve. She had noticed that someone changed her soaked clothes to hospital pyjamas, "You haven't lost you memories, have you? Do you know me?"

Eureka looked Armada, eyes full of playful murder intent. In a blink of an eye, Eureka pulled her pillow beneath her and whacked the soul out of Armada, who had crouched low. "Why. Are. You. Here?" she demanded an answer.

Still hitting the boy, she slowly stood up and whacked with all of her strength. "You know how dangerous this place is? You want to die, eh? Just how stupid can you get? You damn Gingerbread!" She heard Armada's cries of sorry. Eureka stopped abruptly, her vision starting to spin again.

She slumped onto the bed, one hand clutching a handful of hair. Armada approached her immediately, worry painting his face. "Euri, are you okay? You shouldn't overwork yourself right after you wake up from an injury."

"Shut up," she hid her face behind her arms, trying to get rid of the spinning mad house, "You could've gone out worse than me..."

"Sorry to interrupt but," Clint suddenly said, "We need to know if you still have a healthy mind, if you know what I mean." Eureka peeped through her arms and nodded weakly. "So, do you still remember Loki?"

The dark-haired girl wrinkled her nose as she tried to make sense of Clint's words. "I remember," she started slowly and carefully, "I was talking about him in the room... but that's it; I don't remember anything else."

She heard Fury grunt in distress, Tony throwing back his arm in a "Great! This is going so well!" sarcastic way. Everyone looked defeated, except for Steve, who looked ever so concerned, Bruce, who looked indifferent (somehow), and Thor, who looked like he was about to smother her to death with the scary biceps. Note to self: guys with muscles are the scariest.

Everyone took their own time recovering from the sudden arrow of disappointment. Fury was the first to speak. "Right. In her time to recover her memories," he talked to every Avenger in the room with a commanding voice, "we need her in our watch. Meaning, we have to keep a close eye on her. As soon as you get information from her, report it back to me, A.S.A.P."

"What? So now I have stalkers?" Eureka asked, confused, "You won't watch me shower, right? Not even the woman, right? Because that's just disturbing."

"No, we obviously won't do that," Natasha reassured her.

"However," Fury added, "We will escort you to and from school, and you'll be staying in the Stark Tower for the time being."

"What? You didn't get my confirmation!" Tony protested.

"Well this is an order so you'll just have to say 'yes'."

"I disagree." Everyone turned to look at Armada. "I don't think I could trust her to you all. We don't even know your identity, reputation and a proof that you're worthy to be a guardian for an underage."

"Don't say underage! How many times do I have to tell you to say 'pre-adult'?" Eureka sighed, frustrated.

"Okay, then," Tony casually accepted Armada's request, "I'm Tony Stark, awesome genius, billionaire and philanthropist, and also known as Iron Man –"

"Don't forget pla –" Clint had never got to finish his sentence, as Tony dug his elbow into his stomach.

"Anyway, this guy's Clint Barton, awesome agent-archer, and his soul mate, Natasha Romanoff – also an agent but deadlier, in a more feminine way. But she's still a woman so she has a soft side, hopefully." Natasha glared at Tony warningly but Tony shrugged it off as quickly as she did it. "That guy is Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America." Steve managed a small wave to Eureka. "Huge guy is Thor, the God of Thunder and other Asgardian stuff. The even bigger guy – but he's not right now – is Bruce Banner, or just call him Hulk or something. And last but not least, our boss, Nick Fury." Fury nodded in a welcoming way.

Okay, so the introduction didn't seem to help. Armada got even more suspicious – he can't let his friend in the care of a group of deadly men in ridiculous costumes (even though Steve wasn't in his Captain costume, Armada had seen his suit before), while one had a big-ass hammer and the other bow and arrow.

Eureka touched his arm softly. "Just let them do whatever they want," she said in a low voice, "They won't stop until they get what they want. Besides, you could still visit me sometimes. And walk to school; well, that is, with some huge guy following us."

Armada looked at her, knowing that once she had set her mind on something, it's a bad thing to try to change her ways – she's stubborn, but in a good way. "Fine," he puffed out a sigh, pouting with slight disagreement. "By the way, I'm Armada, or call me Ginger, as Euri prefers it."

The green eyed girl grinned turned to Fury, "There, you got his approval!"

"What about your parents?" Bruce asked curiously.

"My dad's vanished to somewhere in the universe and my mum's in the hospital battling herself. I visit my mum sometimes, but I haven't seen my dad in, like, ten years. I live alone, just so you know," she added quickly. She then noticed the atmosphere darkening at the truth about her family issues, but she dismissed it soon, "But Ginger checks on me daily, and I stay over at his house sometimes. His dad is a real chef!"

The air softened a bit at Eureka's quick comment. "So," Fury turned to everyone in the room, "We should get going."

They had stopped at Eureka's run-down house to get things and a fair amount of clothes. Her neighbour was worried for the sudden imposing of the flashy Stark luxurious car but Eureka had reassured her that it's someone she knows, and that she'll be away for some time. After saying some goodbyes, the car drove Eureka, Armada and Tony to the Stark Tower, the building Eureka had once watched every night before going to sleep.

The trip to the tower was pleasant. Armada seemed to get along well with Tony, despite their earlier disagreement about the custody over Eureka. She listened to their conversation switch from subject to subject, refusing to settle on one thing at a time; Eureka started to think that they're chattier and noisier than a group of wrinkly old ladies gathering for a tea. Eureka had stared out the window, thoughts racing in her head. When Tony and Armada decided to settle down, Eureka talked telepathically to her best friend.

"You talk more than you would," she thought, still looking out the window.

"Hey, don't blame me! This guy's not that bad," Armada replied, watching the DVD Tony played for them to watch.

"Get close to him and I'll make sure you're locked up in a dungeon for the rest of your life."

"Don't be too harsh. Why are you so possessive, anyway?"

"... You know why..."

Armada turned to Eureka, who was in daze, "I do, but you need to at least get some of it out of your head. You're killing yourself." Eureka turned to look at Armada square in the eyes.

"And you know I can't just do that."

Armada sighed mentally, "Anyway, what about memories of Loki?"

"I still don't remember the important bits," Eureka explained, "I only remember the embarrassing moments, the fun times and the shared sadness, but nothing about important information like secret documents or something. I can still remember the things he taught me, spells and spear techniques, and that's the only important bit I know."

Eureka shifted to make herself more comfortable while talking to Armada. "Ginger, I just... it's like there's some missing bits in between whenever I get to the part when Loki's trying to tell me something. He looked so sad, so lonely. I didn't know what to do. I reached out to him but something's pulling me back." She felt a lump in her throat but her probably shaky voice was not heard mentally. "I was really scared. He looked like how mum used to look like whenever she talks about dad and... It's just heartbreaking to look at."

The ginger-haired could only nodded in acknowledgement.

When the trio had arrived at the Stark Tower, the two teenagers couldn't stop the adrenaline racing in their bloodstream, making them look at every object in awe. Since they've lived their lives in gloomy areas of the urban life, they've never seen such high-tech household objects. Tony had let Armada stay for dinner, then he got Happy (his driver, apparently) to drive him back to his house.

Eureka was watching the panorama of the night sky when Tony walked in with a beer in one hand. "You like the view?" he asked, sipping from the can.

"Better than the rotting garden back at home," Eureka replied.

"Your room's been made; it's the second one on the right. You have school tomorrow?"

Eureka shook her head, "No. Tomorrow's Sunday."

"Oh, yeah – right. Which reminds me," Tony continued, "what are your superpowers?"

"Hmm... Some psychic powers, generating electricity and magic," she said, "I was aware of my teleportation, telepathy and telekinesis, and my magic afterwards. But I remember having Loki teaching me more advanced forms of magic and some spear tricks – the magic I used to know was only illusions and mind tricks."

"Cool," Tony said simply.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?"

Tony paused for a moment before smirking. He then called the air for something Eureka had never expected, "Jarvis, contact the other members – we have training tomorrow."