Melting His Icy Heart

Chapter 4

After Thor took Loki back to Asgard Tony managed to convince Bruce to move into the tower with him, Andrea, and Pepper. He had to rebuild quite a bit of the upper levels anyway so he decided to give each Avenger their own private floor. Each level had a living space, kitchenette, large master bedroom and enormous bath, plus whatever else each of them might need for training purposes. He designed what he termed the 'Hulk-out' room for Bruce to practice getting in tune with his other half. Natasha and Clint's floor had a massive archery room that constantly changed and shifted the targets and obstacles around on numerous levels. The archer's eyes had nearly bugged out when Tony showed him the plans and he added a few idea of his own. Andrea had suggested building a loft-style bed for Clint that required climbing up a series of notches in the wall to get to it, and the lung-squeezing hug she got in return for that suggestion had her grinning for an hour. Steve's training room Tony had designed a number of extremely durable weightlifting devices along with some punching bags he was positive even the super human couldn't destroy. Thor's room, should he choose to hang around sometimes, had a room similar to Bruce's 'Hulk-out' room but it was meant to be indestructible…though he hadn't tested his chosen materials against Thor's hammer just yet. Andrea's training room was fire-proof and she already used it frequently to vent frustration when she got restless, and to vent her anger.

Andrea was still rather upset with Tony for almost dying on her, and Bruce was endlessly amused at the man's attempts to get back on his sister's good side. The latest attempt had resulted in him filling the communal living space with blue roses and boxes of dark chocolate, which seemed to be helping his cause a great deal.

"So…you like roses Andrea?"

"Only blue ones…they have a calming effect on me…though the chocolates certainly don't hurt in that area either. Dark chocolate is proven to make people happy you know?"

Bruce chuckled softly and watched her flit around the room like a hummingbird, albeit a dangerous one, hopping from one batch of flowers to the next. They both turned as the elevator dinged and a life-sized stuffed black leopard came out. When the stuffed toy was placed onto the sofa a grinning Tony was revealed behind it, along with the rest of the Avengers sans Thor. Andrea's decidedly girly squeal of happiness as she launched herself at the toy, curling into the soft cat with an adorable grin on her face, let everyone in earshot know that Tony was forgiven. Tony's triumphant grin was cut short by Jarvis.

"Sir, phone call from Director Fury."

"Put him on speaker Jarvis."

"Connected Sir."

"Stark."

"Which one?"

The siblings answered in unison and Bruce had to bite him lip so as not to laugh out loud, though Clint seemed to have no such self-control.

"MR. Stark."

"Fury…to what do I owe the distinct NON-pleasure of your phone call?"

"We've received a message from Asgard. Loki has been sentenced to spend the remainder of his life in a prison cell in Asgard's dungeons with no contact aside from those bringing his meals."

"WHAT?!"

The males in the room winced at the burst of anger, and flame, that came from a very angry little female. Her eyes were blazing, as was her skin, in anger that Odin could do that to one he claimed as his son.

"It wasn't Loki's fault! He was being controlled just like Clint was. What the HELL is wrong with their stupid Fucking 'Allfather'?! Send them a message back. I have a few words I want to share with that…that…ugh!"

Tony's eyes went wide and he moved closer to the two spies in their group. Bruce couldn't say he blamed him as he was rather surprised she wasn't actually breathing fire yet.

"As amusing as it would be to watch you give a god a piece of your mind…I have no way of sending a message back."

"Can't you just reverse whatever they did?"

"They sent a rune-covered stone tablet through a beam of light."

Fury's tone was flat and Andrea couldn't help the dumbfounded look on her face, mirrored by everyone else.

"Seriously? All that time and magic and this is the best they can come up with? At least we can text and email."

Tony's commentary was, as usual, ignored.

"I don't like this…not one bit. As soon as Thor comes back I'm having a long talk with him."

"We still need to discuss your fraternizing with the enemy Miss Sta…"

Tony cut the call before Fury could say anything to further piss off his sister. He stepped towards her only to have her personal cell phone go off. Only a small number of people outside of their group had that number, and he was fairly certain which one was on the other end of the line…and he was right.

"Hello? Jane? Hi, long time no see huh? No, no. I'm alright. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Yeah, Fury's an ass. Of course I don't trust him. Really? Hell yes I'm interested. I'll be there ASAP. Later."

Tony watched as she hung up with a beaming smile and turned to him. When she gave him her sweet-face he knew he was done-for.

"Tony? I need a jet."

"Wait…what? Why do you need a jet?"

"Jane is in London and she asked me to come and visit…ergo…I need a jet."

Bruce and the spies watched with ill-concealed amusement as Tony caved in and let his sister have her way, as per usual. She had her big brother wrapped around her little finger. As she ran off to pack her things Clint gave Tony a smirk.

"Can't say no to her can you?"

"Neither can the rest of you. Hell even Hulk pampers her."

Bruce nodded with a smile. Tony was absolutely right. The other guy seemed very protective of the smaller female, and that fiery little lady had ever male in her life willing to do anything just to keep her safe and happy.